Cursed
by mandaree1
Summary: What if, is a strange thing, with many possibilities.S.P.R. is formed; friends become a 'family'. Mai falls for naru, but the 'what if' is what complicates this tale'What if', Mai was cursed, by Satan? Her arms, legs, hands, feet, neck, and so on and so forth would be covered in red, ancient Chinese marking, stating that she was his when she died. better than it sounds (i hope)!
1. evil spirits all over part 1

What if, is a strange thing, with many possibilities.

S.P.R. is formed; friends become a 'family'

Mai falls for naru, but the 'what if' is what complicates this tale

'What if', Mai was cursed, by Satan?

Her arms, legs, hands, feet, neck, and so on and so forth would be covered in red, ancient Chinese marking, stating that she was his when she died.

A bet was placed after her parents, whom died at Satins hand, for Satan's enjoyment. The bet was simple 'show kindness to no one until the age of 18, and you may choose the way you die. Fail, and you and the people you were friendly too would die in the worst ways imaginable.

It's said that there is no escape for sinner from Satan, so what if it was the same for Mai?

'What if', to protect everyone from herself, she was mostly mute, and only spoke when necessary, or for ghost stories with two girls who didn't mind her coarse, silent attitude?

And slowly, Lin, Ayako, Masako, John, Monk, Madoka, yasu, and even Naru slowly broke down her every defense, showing that she can be herself around them without fear?

What if is dangerous and wondrous, which way will it become in this twisted tale?

******_POV Mai_**

******_April_**

******_Thursday_**

******_File one_**

Rain pattered down on the windows of the class room that was mostly dark, except for the 3 lights me and the two girls who speak to me, kieko and Michiru, had on. My clothes were that of my school uniform, with the long sleeves completely down as well as black leather gloves that had open fingertips.

"And then the woman led the policeman through the dark hallways to the public restroom in the back. Once there, the policeman told her to go back inside and wait to see if she could hear the voice again. And she did just as she was told. 'Do you want me to cover you with a red coat?' She answered 'Y-yes.' AND THEN, she screamed! The policeman burst through the door and found the girl totally covered in blood as if she had a red coat draped over her."

"Mai you know we hate it when you use that creepy voice," Michiru said as Keiko leaned into her for comfort.

I kept my face expressionless, but I was happy a little inwardly. That's one of the props of rarely speaking; your voice was usually very strong or in this case creepy, when you wanted it to be.

"AH, it's so dark!" Keiko said, getting a bit teary eyed.

I rolled my eyes silently, it's not too dark in the classroom, I kind of enjoy the darkness, it's a cloak from everything else in the world.

"You're next Michiru," I almost whispered, being just loud enough to be heard.

Okay, this one is about the old schoolhouse," she began. I almost cringed at the mention of the place. It made my marks (that's my private name for my seals, or the old, red, ancient Chinese marks all over my body) tingle, so something not good was going on there. Then again, it did that with everything that could be a possible threat (pick-pockets, purse snatchers, etc) so I never get robbed anymore, I know better than to hang around those people.

"Do you mean that creepy old building down the street that's collapsing?" Keiko asked.

'What else could she be talking about, Keiko?' I thought to myself, but kept silent

Michiru nodded before continuing, "It's not collapsing, it was being demolished when all the workers suddenly quit because of a curse." _A curse? Sounds like Satan's speal_

"Lots of people have died in that schoolhouse over the years. Most famously a teacher that committed suicide, so when they decided to build the new school, they started to tear down the old one… But then, the ceiling collapsed on some of the workers. The demolition ended that day. Last year they started the demolition again to make way for a new gymnasium, but a truck driving by lost control and crashed into a group of kids outside, killing some students." Keiko gasped, and I nodded, made sense then why my scars tingled

"But there's more. I heard about this from an upper classman. One night a student was walking past the old school, and in one of the windows they saw a glowing figure in the window before it disappeared." Iwonderedsilently wither or not it was the work or Satan _(or should I say boss sense he has my soul in the palm of his hand?) _had anything to do with this_._ Michiru shut off her light. "Here goes. One."

"Two, Keiko said shakily.

"Three," I muttered quietly.

"Four," said a masculine voice. Michiru and Keiko gasped then shrieked before Keiko grabbed me by the neck while I stood up slowly, who the hell was that?

"The ghost is here to murder us!" one of them shouted, I didn't notice which; I was more focused on the girl who was holding me for dear life. I the lights flickered one and Michiru stood up and faced the door.

"Oh please tell me that was you just now!" she said to the man at the door.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked, acting like he hadn't just scared us to death and back. This guy was obviously an asshole and a jerk, something told me it depended on his mood.

Michiru and Keiko fell back to their seats while Keiko said, "I thought for sure it was the ghost!"

'Not possible' I thought 'we'd be either dead or injured if it was one.'

I starting rubbing my neck as the man started talking again, "Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be here, but then I heard your voices and I couldn't help myself." He turned towards us with the fakest smile I'd ever seen.

Michiru and Keiko didn't seem to notice, though, and stood up for a better look at him, then said things like, "Oh no it's totally fine!" while giggling and running towards him, obviously attracted by what I could only suppose was some quality about him I had missed.

"So what year are you?" one of them asked, I was too busy figuring out why he was attracting them to notice which

"I'm seventeen this year," he answered, facing the two in front of him.

_Normally someone would just say they're a senior _I thought_ maybe he's a dropout? He sounds too smart for that though, if intelligence had a voice, it would be his. As well as ego and big-headiness._

"So we were just telling ghost stories," Michiru said as he faced her.

"I see, well maybe I could join you guys sometime," he said.

"Wow, you mean you like telling ghost stories too?" Keiko asked.

He nodded while saying, "Yes," which brought both of my friends into a giggling fit.

"You seem like a really cool guy, what's your name?" Michiru asked as I looked into his eyes, making sure to look like I wasn't. This guy was…. Strange.

"My name is Kazuya," he answered.

'His eyes don't smile' I thought to myself 'he's lost somebody lately.'

"Why are you here?' I asked quietly, I might have to make myself known, but I wanted Kazuya to get the hell out of here before the closest thing to friends I will ever have decide to disappear to who knows where with this asshole.

"There are some things I need to take care of," he said, turning towards the door.

I waved at the door, a sign of 'then why are you sitting around here for?'

Michiru then said, "Do you need our help or anything?"

_Oh man… these guys have gone loony_

"No, but I would love to be invited to join you the next time you tell ghost stories," he answered smoothly.

"Of course, you're welcome anytime!" Keiko said happily.

"How about tomorrow, after school?" Michiru said.

"Okay, but where?" Kazuya asked.

"Right here!" Keiko said.

_Something's fishy about him. I better get to the bottom of this, for Keiko and Michiru's sake… and for my sanity._

**_Friday_**

'Nice weather' I thought to myself 'why did I have to leave early?'

"I've got all the cherry blossoms to myself!" I mumbled aloud as I came by the old school building. I started thinking of Michiru's story… could they be true?

"Ehehehe…" I giggled nervously before continuing a few steps before stopping again and looking at the building once more. Some crows cried in the distance. _Perfect horror movie setting…_

'The more I look at this place the more I believe the stories…' I thought as I walked to the door of the old building. Through the cracks in the glass I was able to look inside. _The dust has been disturbed recently…_ I thought before stepping in.

_Let's see, dust, spider webs, shoe racks, camera, spiders-wait, camera? What the hell is that doing here?_

"I thought this place was abandoned…" I said to no one. "It doesn't make sense that someone would just leave it here…" Who would even step into this place, none the less stay here long enough to set up a camera?

Suddenly a blur of light came by, startling me while I heard a very masculine voice call out, "Who's there?!"

The light was still blurry and confusing me, and I tried to back away from it while shouting out, "I'm sorry, I'll leave now!" before accidently hitting a shoe rack, causing it to start falling. 'Damn' I thought 'this is going to hurt' and braced myself for impact.

The next few seconds were a blur, but next thing I know I was on the ground, disoriented, not able to make sense of why I wasn't crushed under weight and pain when I noticed I wasn't where I was before, and a man was laying on the ground where I was

Quickly I sprung over asking, "Hey mister, are you okay?" He didn't respond even the slightest. _'This will be quite the newspaper headline'_ I thought sarcastically to myself _'14 year old girl kills older man in haunted old schoolhouse. I may just become the next horror story'_

"What's going on in here?" I heard a man ask. _Kazuya_ I thought, seeing him at the door _DAMN!_

He wasn't smiling, and it seemed strangely more natural. "Lin, what just happened?" Kazuya asked the man, coming by his side, and I noticed that Lin was bleeding. _Darn_ I thought wildly _do I ever get a break?_

"You're bleeding, can you stand?" Kazuya asked.

"Yeah," the man-Lin I supposed- said softly.

"I'm really sorry about this! H-he startled me and I guess I turned around too fast and I-" I muttered softly.

"Never mind about that, is there a doctor close by?" Kazuya said, facing me slightly.

I stood up to try to help Lin up and said, "There's a doctor just down the street from here." I reached my hand to try to help the injured man but he smacked my hand away.

"No thanks, you've done enough already as it is," the man said darkly while Kazuya helped him up onto his shoulder. _Whoops, he doesn't like me, can't blame him on that one._

"We met yesterday, right? What's your name?" Kazuya said, adjusting the man on his shoulder who was obviously taller and probably heavier than he, he must be pretty strong to even be able to hold him up.

"Mai," I mumbled, worried for the taller man, even though Lin didn't seem to like me _again, can't blame him, it's better for him not to anyway, I don't plan on dragging anyone to Hell with me_.

"Alright then Mai, I thought you'd like to know you're going to be late for your first class since the morning bell just rang," He said snidely.

"I noticed" I muttered, before running to class

**_Later_**

"Mai are you leaving now?" Keiko asked after the bell rung.

"We're supposed to tell ghost stories with that cute guy, remember?" Michiru added.

I speed stuffed everything into my backpack, and shook my head in an 'I'm not interested' way.

"Aww come on Mai, please?" Keiko begged. "This is our chance to tell ghost stories with a senior!" Yeah, a senior that doesn't even go to this school.

"Did you say ghost stories?" a girl with glasses and two braids said from the door. I had only recently started going to school here but I knew that she was a girl from another class called Kuroda. "Is that what you do after school every day?" she continued. She didn't seem happy.

We stayed silent.

"Well than no wonder I've had this headache for so long. I'm very attuned to spirits. When they gather in groups I get headaches."

"So you're blaming us for that?" I asked softly, _No it can't possibly be our hours of homework? _I thought sarcastically, _to each there own_

"Yes I am. Whenever you tell one of your little ghost stories you attract low level spirits and they attract stronger spirits. And then we're in big trouble, so when you entertain yourselves with these stories you're putting me at risk!" Kuroda said stepping in front of us. _Not true_ I thought _those only come up for wiji-boarding and things of that nature_

"So tell me," I heard Kazuya say from the doorway efficiently sneaking up on me for the third time and startling Kuroda, "If you're sensitive to spirits like you claim do you sense anything with the old schoolhouse?"

I mentally sighed while Michiru and Keiko said at exactly the same time, "Oh my god Kazuya came to find us!" True, this wasn't the classroom we were to meet in, but I doubted it was to meet with us, if anything it was to give me Lin's hospital bill.

Kuroda starting stepping towards Kazuya while saying, "Hold on, are you the one who put these girls up to telling these ridiculous ghost stories?" _way to blame the first person ya meet_

"You didn't answer my question," Kazuya answered calmly "Could it be your psychic abilities are made up?" _that was low, even for me._

"For your information there are numerous spirits of those who died in the war that gather in the old schoolhouse. In fact, I'm positive that building was used as a hospital during the war. I've just seen too many injured spirits in there," Kuroda said, quite upset. _This was getting pathetic and boring, I wonder if yawning would get it to end quicker_

Kazuya simply responded, "I was not aware of a hospital being here during the war. I know that this school was founded well before the war so maybe, this was a medical school?" _you need to get your dates better_

Kuroda then stopped being so tense and looked at him in shock before turning her face away saying, "Look I don't know. But I really do see spirits, if you're not psychic then you wouldn't understand." _And there was another low blow, 1 to 1, a tie so far_

"Sorry Kazuya, can we do this some other time?" Keiko said shyly, obviously upset about all that had been said.

"Yeah I'm not in the mood anymore either," Michiru added, her head down, obviously ashamed as well.

"No? Perhaps another day," he said, turning to leave before looking at me. "Oh, and Mai? Would you mind coming with me for a moment?"

_Not that it seems like I have a choice… Aw man!_

We stepped out in the hallway as Michiru, Keiko, and Kuroda left. "How is your friend doing? And how much do I owe you for the hospital bill?" I asked, _that had to be the loudest I've spoken in awhile_, when they had left, better to pay now then have to get tracked down at a later date.

"Yes about him, he suffered a sprain to his left leg and I'm afraid he won't be walking for a while," he said as we walked towards the exit.

"I see. Tell him I didn't mean to, and it would have been better for both of us if It had fallen on me" I said sincerely (or the closest I got to it anyway, I can't get close after all) "what are you doing in that place anyway?" I asked, returning to my soft, quiet voice

"We were working," he responded.

"Ah," I said as I stopped walking, "You work for him. Are you his assistant or co-worker?" _he doesn't seem like the assistant type though…_

Kazuya continued walking while saying, "No not quite." He stopped and turned to face me. "He's the assistant, I'm the boss," he told me.

"Why does that make more sense?" I muttered aloud, a little shocked, but not that much

He continued, "Now my assistant is stuck in bed. I believe it is up to you to take his place."

"I'm not the assistant type" I murmured "and I'd probably get in the way instead of help. Can't you hire someone?"

"The camera is broken, "he said, changing tactics. _Well, duh, a shoe rack fell on it_, "My assistant tried to stop you from touching the camera, and now it is in several pieces."

"I'll pay for it and his hospital bill" I told him _well there goes my food money for at least a few months, Satan may just take me earlier than we agreed. _

"It's… quite expensive," he said. _Then why was it next to shaky and heavy shoe racks? Are you an idiot, or are you blind?_

"Oh then, I don't know what to do…" I thought more to myself

"You can't afford to reimburse the damaged equipment which means there's only one other course we can take," he calmly replied. _I… don't like where this is going. _"You'll work off the debt as my assistant."

Then as curiosity got the better of me I asked, "What do you do at your job?"

Kazuya turned slightly away from me before answering, "I hunt ghosts." Huh? Is this guy serious? Some ghosts just aren't meant to be touched "In other words I exorcise spirits- ghosts. My company, Shibuya Psychic Research, was hired to conduct an investigation on the old schoolhouse."

He turned away from me and heading down the hallway. "Psychic research is another term for spiritual investigations. We basically examine and scrutinize reports of supernatural phenomenon," he said as he walked before he turned around to face me again, his shoe squeaking on the floor as he did so. He then said, "And I run the company."

"Uh…" _Crap. Mai, what have you just gotten yourself into. Satan's laughing himself silly right now, I can feel it._

**_Friday_**

******_Evening_**

I followed Kazuya outside, he did say I started right now, and I had no doubt he would literally drag me by ear to the schoolhouse, he seemed like that type of pain. Kazuya lead me behind the schoolhouse and to a van. He opened the door, revealing lots of equipment. "I see why you have a fully grown man work for you" I muttered. I couldn't help myself.

One week ago your principal contacted my company. He told me that the problem was that they constantly have to run damage control over a rumor that the schoolhouse is haunted.

"When I checked the records, I was able to verify until eighteen years ago, while the old schoolhouse was still being used, there would be at least one or two deaths inside the structure every year," Kazuya said as he handed me a heavy box of shelves and began typing on a laptop.

I grunted to show I was listening, and that the box was heavy. My marks burned, I really shouldn't be here.

"It's also true that when construction crews were demolishing the east side of the building, there was an accident were the roof collapsed prematurely. None of the workers died as a result, although five were injured in the incident which was ultimately blamed on human error. Construction ended with only a third of the planned demolition work ever being finished." We started to walk inside, each of us carrying something.

"A teacher did in fact commit suicide in the building, but that was explained in the suicide note left by the victim.

"The incident with the track last year was a drunk-driving accident. That's when construction was stopped for the last time. No doubt the rumors were a part in this decision. Based on my research the existence of paranormal activity here is nothing more than fiction. For a place this active every occurrence has a reasonable explanation.

"We will set up base here," Kazuya said, finished with his explanation, setting down his box on a table as we finally reached our destination in the schoolhouse. I nodded, but didn't ask, even though I had no clue what the base was for_. I have to stay cold_ I reminded myself _think of what would happen if you get stuck being in hell with this jerk for eternity…_

He turned towards me before continuing with, "We will conduct all of our observations from this room."

I nod, but again, if I started talking now things would get tense_. I think he likes the silence, it shows I'm not interested in his line of work, it gives him a challenge._

"Set up those shelves for me. I'll start bringing in the equipment," he said as he got to the door.

"Want help with that?" I asked quietly, but still coldly

He replied with "It's heavy; some of it weighs almost a hundred pounds."

"I was silently glad I only had to only set up shelves.

I heard a creak from somewhere in the building. I leaned back and listened, before I heard Kazuya (man, he'd make a good stalker with how quiet he is) say ""Stop goofing off and get back to work."

_It's official. He's an ass._

The dark voice of Satan laughed in the back of my mind, enjoying all of this.

**_Later_**

Soon all the equipment had been set up and on magnificently put-together shelves which I had put together. Naru seemed to have already figured out what certain gestures of my hands and head meant, which I suppose was good considering he was stuck with me and vice versa.

I nodded to 2 strange camera things he'd brought in, silently questioning what they were.

"An inferred camera and a thermal imagery camera. They're used to shoot in total darkness. This one uses thermography to record temperatures. When a spirit appears the temperature near it will drop and show up on the camera," he answered, seems like he knows he stuff

What made you decide to go into the ghost hunting business?" I asked curiously

"Because someone has to do it," he answered simply, looking over more equipment.

"It seems you know a lot" I muttered softly, I don't like him, but I had to give him some props, even if he is a jerk.

I'm very good at my job," he answered nonchalantly.

"Amazing, he's as smart as he is handsome," I muttered to myself. _Well, at least my friends think he's handsome, so I'll just go with it._

"So you think I'm handsome, huh?" Kazuya said, turning towards me.

"That's what the girls who've met you say" I whispered, not looking him in the eye, slightly embarrassed "I'm no judge on that type of thing."

Kazuya turned back to the equipment before responding with, "Well, they have very good taste."

_It's official… I dub ye Naru the Narcissist for the rest of you large ego-ed days. May thee never explode and kill all of Tokyo with thy hot air. _I thought_, I'm never giving him props again_

**_Later that day_**

"Well that's all we have to do for today," Kazuya-I mean, Naru said, stirring me from my half-asleep state I had fallen in after he made me set up cameras everywhere. And write down temperatures every hour. And let's not forget all the microphones, and the damned monitors. Did this guy do any work himself?

"I'll see you here tomorrow," Naru continued while leaving.

"Aw man…" I muttered. No doubt he would be able to track down where I lived if I tried to avoid work…

I walked out of the building and to the street, just in time for a flashlight to click on and to see kieko and Michiru.

"Mai? Have you been here with Kazuya all night long?" Keiko asked worried.

"What were you two doing?" Michiru added on.

"Long story…" I mumbled

**Naru's P.O.V**

I walked over to the van to do a bit more research on the land itself; perhaps it is something that happened on the land that caused the haunting.

Although, what really bothered me was the girl, Mai Taniyama

She herself was a mystery, she hardly spoke, but (I checked her records) is not mute. She is said to always wear gloves and long sleeves, leading me to believe she may be hiding scars of some sort. Her every movement seemed to have reason, something seemed… off… about her.

Mai Taniyama was keeping a few secrets, and I am interested in finding them out.

**Mai's P.O.V**

I had told my story about what I had gone through for the last few hours after us three had sat down on a bench, my voice was thoroughly spent, that had to be the most I've spoken in years.

"Paranormal investigation?" Keiko asked.

"So he's not an upper classman," Michiru said, trying to process it.

"According to him he's a ghost hunter," I repeated. _Get this through your heads!_ I thought desperately _my throat's starting to hurt!_

"A ghost hunter?" they both asked.

"Mai?" Kuroda appeared. What's she doing here so late? "I was wondering if you would introduce me to him."

I shrugged, she could introduce herself, she'd already done it once. "talk to Naru all you want, he probably will remember you from today"

"What's this Naru stuff all about?" Michiru asked. Oh right, I didn't tell them about that yet.

"That guy's got to be the biggest narcissist I've ever met in my life! I can't believe I actually have to work for him now!" I responded irritably.

"You know, I have many psychic abilities myself and I think I could really help Kazuya with his work," Kuroda continued.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I played nice. She wasn't psychic as far as I knew, and I knew that she would only get hurt in trying to help.

We sat there in an awkward silence for a bit before Michiru and Keiko stood up, Michiru saying, "Let's go Mai," as she took my arm and walked/dragged me down the street.

We made it in front of a shop before we stopped as Keiko said, "That girl is such a weirdo, she's been like that since middle school."

"Yeah, she's a freak," Michiru added on. _You are what you believe _I thought irritably_ put yourself in her shoes for a moment._

I turned towards Keiko before asking, "Wasn't she in a lot of the same classes as you Keiko?"

"Yeah, and she would constantly bug people about her spirits or whatever," she said as she and Michiru started down the street again. I turned around to see if Kuroda was still there, but she had left.

"Wait, I know why she wants to help Kazuya! Maybe she's already fallen in love with Kazuya!"

"EW! Gross!" they said before they started giggling.

_I should have taped them when they talked to him earlier…_ I started walking home thinking about Naru's new nickname. _Good taste? HA! If only they knew…_

**_Saturday_**

I walked up to the van where I figured Naru was, and sure enough, I found him reading a clipboard.

I nodded to his clipboard, silently asking what he was doing when I looked up

"Checking yesterday's data. So far there seems to be nothing unusual," he answered before a man and a woman walked up.

The woman's heels clicked as she said snidely, "That's some fancy equipment you got there. It seems a bit too high-tech for a couple of children to be playing with."

"And who might you be?" Naru asked, not very excited to be called a child, apparently. _Can't blame him_

"I'm Ayako, the shrine maiden. The principle wasn't sold on you so he called me to drive the spirits out," she responded. _You're the backup plan_ I thought to myself _and you think your all that. then again, so does Naru_

"I was under the impression that only innocent virgins can become shrine maidens," Naru said snidely. _Yep, definitely not a good idea to call him a child…_ I thought as the man and I started cracking up. I kept a smile hidden well

"I see, and, your point?" Ayako said slightly peeved.

"At the very least I'd say you're looking a little old to be calling yourself a maiden," Naru said bluntly. And I smiled slightly

"Nice, very funny you smartass," she said, her voice shaking with anger. My initial examination of her showed chic clothing and long hair.

I turned my attention to the man that was behind her, still smiling as Naru asked, "You, you don't seem to be her assistant."

"I'm a monk from Mount Kouya. The name's Takigawa Houshou," he responded, straightening up.

"Since when were monks allowed to have long hair?" Naru asked. _He…. Doesn't like newcomers… and I thought he hated me_

"Ahem, apostate," Ayako coughed.

"Hey I'm just on a little hiatus, okay? At any rate playtime is over, kids. Now you may have gotten this gig because your office is nearby, but the principle himself said it seemed like a scam to have a teenager running the show," the monk said, getting a bit aggravated.

_Well, at least it wasn't child… he seems a little more polite_

Naru coolly responded with, "Did he now?"

"The principal's wasting his money. There's no need to have all of us for such a simple job," Ayako said confidently.

"Yeah, all he really needed was me," the monk said. _Takigawa Houshou… I think I'll just call him 'Monk', neither of his names really fit._

"Right, I wouldn't be so sure," Ayako argued back. _I get a feeling that this will happen a lot. They sound like an old couple._

They just stared at each other until we were interrupted by a voice saying, "Oh, thank goodness you're all here. That haunted old schoolhouse has been terrorizing me for weeks."

"Kuroda?" I said quietly.

"You see, I'm a psychic. The souls of those trapped there have-"

"Stop grandstanding. You're just looking for attention," Ayako rudely interrupted. "Are you really that desperate for people to like you?"

"Your being rude" I defended softly, I hated it when people were rude.

"Excuse me that was extremely rude!" I came to her defense. I could handle being taunted, but I couldn't help but be upset when it happened to others.

"You know it's the truth," Ayako calmly said back. "She claims to have psychic abilities in hopes it will somehow make her popular."

Suddenly Kuroda's muscles got tense and cold, meaning she was mad. "I'm going to call a spirit to haunt you," she said coldly.

"Hold on Kuroda," I said. It was never smart to get upset at getting taunted.

She ignored me. "You're the fake, and you'll regret this," she said as she turned around and left.

I didn't follow; I knew she'd be hurt.

I looked over and cocked my head at naru "what are we doing today Naru?" I asked softly

Wait, what did you just say?" Naru asked, looking very confused and slightly peeved. _Mission failed._ "Did you just call me Naru?" he said as he stood up to face me.

"Uh, sorry, I…" I answered. _Great, now he knows what I refer to him as…_

"Where did you hear that?" he asked, still looking peeved.

"I made it up" I muttered "I called you 'Naru the narcissist' in front of my friends and it stuck"

"Morning everyone, nice to see you all," a voice said from behind us. _That must be the principal.. I don't see him often... who's behind him?_

"Say hello to John Brown," he continued, stepping away as John Brown bowed.

"Goo' day mates," he said as he bowed. _Uh… that accent…. How do I put it…_ He straightened up and said, "My name's John Brown, and I came from the great outback of Australia. I can't express how excited I am to join you."

_Intriguing I suppose…_

Ayako and Monk were having a giggle fit as my principle said, "Mr. Brown is relatively new to our country so please show him the respect he deserves."

Monk stood up a bit as he laughed while Ayako said through her laughing, "No no let me guess, you're looking for a playground, right?" True, he looked very young.

John looked used to it as he responded, "Well, actually I practice the ancient art of exorcism."

Both Ayako and Monk stopped laughing to evaluate him. _Like a new threat…_

"Only those who have been ordained in the Catholic Church as priests have the ability to conduct exorcisms. You seem young for that," Naru said questioningly.

"Wow, you really know your stuff mate, to be honest I just turned nineteen a few weeks ago, that's why I look so young," John said as he scratched the back of his head.

_And he's still older than Naru… looks like I'm going to be the youngest of the group._

**_Later_**

We all were in base, despite Monk and Ayako's apparent distrust in Naru.

"So we have an Australian exorcist, an apostate monk, and a teenage ghost hunter," Ayako said. _And an old shrine maiden, I suddenly feel like I'm in the middle of a bad joke… _"Obviously this bone-headed principle doesn't have much faith in my unique cleansing abilities. Hmph, Just watch, I'll clear this entire place myself," she said as she left the room.

_Cocky… let's see how far this goes before it goes downhill… something tell me it won't take that long._

"I'm going to do a walkthrough, see ya later," Monk said as he also left the room. _Walkthrough… to sense the ghost, right? Let's see how long he lasts_

"Uh, excuse me, sir?" John asked politely to Naru. _Maybe Naru can take an example from him… doubtful. He's too nice for that._

"You may do as you wish," Naru said. _Well, duh, he doesn't work for you._

"I mean, I'd really like to work with you on this," John continued. _… Scratch that to a 'yet'._

Suddenly we heard a scream. "That sounds like Ayako!" John said as we rushed to where the scream oriented from.

We rushed over and ended up gathered in front of a door as Ayako banged on it and screamed, "Open up!"

"Stand back!" Monk shouted through the door. "I'm going to kick it down!"

I stood back; something told me he was stronger than he looked. My marks were burning now, it really hurt.

"Hurry up and do it!" she shouted back. Monk then kicked the door down forcefully.

We all gathered in base after that, I having made Ayako sit down for a little bit as she explained what happened.

"I was looking around the classroom. Suddenly the door slammed shut. I tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. There's definitely a spirit here," she explained.

"No, there isn't. I haven't sensed one paranormal being," a voice said from the doorway. I sent my senses out to sense a girl in a kimono. She seemed like Japanese dolls I have sensed in antique shops.

I gave naru a look of 'is that a ghost?' she's certainly perfect enough to be one... Feudal era I'd guess

"Relax Mai, she's human," Naru said as the girl stepped further into the room. "Masako Hara is a spirit medium," he explained.

_Still doesn't explain the kimono…_

"Fantastic, so now they're calling in a TV star?" Monk said snidely. _Jealous much…._

"This is ridiculous. It's easy to fake results on television. The only reason she gets ratings is because she's pretty and wears that silly kimono," Ayako said. _Well that explains it a bit…_

"Why thank you, I take that as a compliment," Masako said. _Great, two narcissists… Naru's still a bigger one. Why can't I work for the lesser of two evils?_

"Well, trust me it's not," Ayako said rudely.

Masako ignored her while turning to Naru saying, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before."

"Yes, we've never met but your reputation precedes you," Naru answered.

"Right," she answered softly.

"Anyway, there is a haunting here. In my professional opinion, we're dealing with an earth-bound spirit," Ayako said.

"I believe it's a residual haunting. A traumatic event must have happened in this building in the past," Monk inputted.

"So you mean like someone was murdered here and they have to spend eternity searching the halls for their killer or something?" I asked softly. By 'something' I was more or less thinking of exams. This _was_ a school in the past, and exams are pretty traumatic, at least to me they were.

"Close, I think the entity is afraid it's going to lose its home, so it's attempting to block the construction," Monk answered back.

Naru then turned to John, asking, "John, what do you think?"

"Well to be honest I'm not sure, but usually a haunting does originate with a ghost or spirit occupying a structure," John answered.

"So it's either a haunting, or fiction and folklore," Naru said. He turned towards me. "Are you listening Mai?" he asked.

I nodded, and gave him a questioning look, 'why ask?'

"These are things you need to learn," He responded.

_Just how long is he going to make me work for him? _I pulled my gloves tighter, there were too many people involved in this in my opinion….

"Enough talk, I'm getting rid of this thing as soon as I get back," Ayako said as she turned around and left the room. "I don't know how long I can put up with you people," she muttered to herself. _You're not exactly on my 'favorite person' list either…_

Ayako got to the door when Kuroda came in front of her, blocking the path. "I wouldn't be so confident in your abilities. The spirit that haunts this site is incredibly powerful," she said.

"Kuroda," I said. So she came back…. _Just to get burned again._

"Move aside," Ayako said as she pushed Kuroda to the side before leaving. I ran over to her as she slid down the wall.

I helped her sit up before she looked at me and said, "The spirit attacked me."

I could almost feel the statement have its effect on everyone.

"It's true," she continued, "I was walking down the hallway when suddenly my hair was yanked back with amazing force. When I tried to flee it started strangling me. 'You're interfering with this site. Leave or die,' is what I heard it say." _Man, she talks a convincing story_

"When did this happen?" Naru asked calmly.

"A few minutes ago, in the second floor hallway," she answered.

"That's false, there are no spirits here," Masako interrupted.

"Yes there are! There definitely are. And they're angry," Kuroda responded hotly.

"You said it was the second floor hallway?" Naru asked before turning towards the monitors and typing something in. I could hear the monitors whir, and pretended to watch. _Might as well act like I know what's going on…_

I could faintly hear the recording of opening doors and footsteps as Kuroda walked on screen. I could saw static on one of the screens. "What just happened, is the camera broken?" I asked. I was getting better at speaking around him at least.

"No, but it is quite strange," Naru answered. I turned towards him, slightly confused. He explained (although mostly for my sake, probably), "When a spirit becomes active electronic equipment will often malfunction, but here I am not so sure. Is it, a spirit or EMF interference…"

"It's quite obviously a spirit. Interference doesn't cause someone to be attacked," Kuroda defended. _She seems quite defendant towards this… I think she's lying_

"But Masako said there are no spirits here," I muttered, trying to figure this out a bit.

"Well let's just say I'm a little skeptical, about her," Kuroda said with venom lacing her tone.

"It's common for female mediums to be either exactly right or way off base," Naru said, almost sensing the cat fight waiting in the air. "Even if she can't sense any spirits now doesn't mean the haunting isn't active. If what you say is true, then it's possible that the spirit than inhabits this place is very attuned to your wavelength," he continued.

"Yeah, that's right," Kuroda said, almost shocked that someone was believing her and coming to her defense.

_If that's the case, then all this our fault? She did say that ghost stories attracted spirits… Oh no, did our telling ghost stories about this place actually attract real ghosts?_

_Oh no… _

Satan's laughing made me believe he was either way off base or right, I hope it was the second.

**Read and Review please!**


	2. evil spirits all over part 2

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

******_April_**

******_Saturday_**

I was just watching Ayako give her exorcism. She was so cocky yesterday, yet her weird chant wasn't assuring me. I could not even think that this would work, and it almost seemed like she wasn't sure either, she did say to watch her while she did it.

"What is she doing?" I mumbled to Naru.

"Have you never heard of noruto?" Naru asked, I shook my head

They're just Shinto incantations," Monk said, whom was leaning over John's shoulder, "but I'm starting to wonder if she can even pull this off."

"I've never seen anyone preform a Shinto exorcism before, let's watch," Naru said. I heard Kuroda step from one of the rooms, she seemed very focused on the exorcism, almost anticipating a fault in it.

Ayako just continued her weird chanting, waving the stick with paper on it around. Is this seriously going to work? My marks don't sense any threat from her, so I doubt she could pull it off right now, maybe somewhere else….

"That's it," Ayako said, finally done, "now you'll have nothing to worry about."

"I have to say I'm quite impressed," one of the men said. I couldn't remember which one was which, I wasn't around them enough to really distinguish the two, one was the principle and the other was the vice principle I think, they both wore suits so I had nothing to go on.

Nor did I actually care.

"It was presented beautifully, thank you so much," the other said. If beauty of presentation had anything to do with the supernatural being taken care of and possibly destroyed. _Idiots_

"What would you say to a party tonight in your honor?" one of them said.

"I can't, I must stay here for the next twelve hours to keep an eye on things," Ayako said, turning down the invitation. _Duh, if you went your ego would get to large to be held up by your shoulders…_

"Of course, I understand, you're a true professional. Maybe we could meet up for lunch sometime," the man offered instead. The three walked to the front doors while Monk yawned.

"She's finally done," Monk exclaimed while stretching. This caused me to yawn and we started to turn to go to base. As Ayako and the men were about at the door, though, I heard one of the glass panes break.

They gasped as more cracks could be heard. We turned back surprised before suddenly all the glass burst inside and towards the three adults. They shrieked before falling to the ground to try to cover themselves from the glass. _Smart idea, that would hurt if it got into an eye of mouth_.

We ran towards them to check what happened, John and Monk going to check on the three while Naru and I stayed back. _That was interesting to watch. It's as if the 'ghost' Is saying that Ayako didn't do shit…._

"Hey, are you alright?" Monk said as his feet crushed glass.

"This man is bleeding!" john said. _Well, no duh, he just got attacked by glass, of course he's going to bleed._

"Oh no, looks like he is too," Monk called, "What about you Ayako?"

"I'm alright," Ayako said calmly, albeit a bit shaken. _To bad, maybe you've learned your lesson about acting too cocky for your own damn good. All of this is making my scars burn, I'm starting to wonder if they're cutting into my skin like knifes._

"Are you okay sir?" Monk asked one of the men. Other than the fact he was attacked by glass, I'm sure he's peachy! Baka! (1)

"Yes I'll be fine," he repiled shakily.

"Can you stand?" Monk said, helping the man up.

The ambulance soon arrived, taking both the men to the hospital. "I thought you said there would be nothing to worry about now," Kuroda said snidely, "Looks like your little exorcism didn't work. Your failure just sent the principal to the hospital." _Get over it Kuroda, I can't protect you from them again. Once was dangerous enough, I've never seen Satan that gleeful until I had to visit him last night. I've never ached as much either….._

Ayako tensed up before Masako interrupted by saying, "That was a simple accident."

"Thank you, I thought I did my job very well," Ayako said turning towards Masako. _Why do I get the feeling that's not what she meant?_

"I'm not saying your exorcism worked, it couldn't have because there was no spirits here to begin with," Masako said calmly again. Yup_, I was right. Never mind the lesser of two evils; I'd rather work for Naru than any of these idiots._

"Yes there are! I was nearly killed by one of them earlier today!" Kuroda shouted at her.

Then we got back to the base John commented, "Maybe it was a coincidence."

"Or there's something here, something too strong for Ayako to drive away," Monk said thoughtfully. _Didn't you just say that there was no way that she could do it? I thought I switched sides fast._

"If that were the case then there would be more conclusive readings on my equipment," Naru said.

I looked over the monitors, trying to see why everything that was happening was happening. I don't think a spirit has anything to do with this… when I noticed the chair

"Hey, that room didn't have a chair in the middle of it yesterday, did it?" I asked quietly, slightly unsure, bringing everyone's attention to the monitors.

"That's one of the classrooms on the second floor," Naru commented. I remembered all the classrooms on the second floor, and not a single one had a chair in front of it.

I nodded, and pointed my pointer finger at the chair and shook my head, showing that the chair wasn't there when I put chairs in there.

"Houshou, have you seen anyone go inside that classroom?" Naru asked.

"No," he responded.

"Me neither," John echoed.

I watched as naru did a play back, and it showed the chair moving when the glass broke, and it was slightly weird, almost creepy.

"Was that a ghost?" I asked.

"It looks to me like a poltergeist," Kuroda said calmly.

"A poltergeist?" I asked. _Than who's creating it?_

"It's a German word dating back four centuries that means 'noisy ghost'," Kuroda answered, pushing her glasses up as she continued, "They're manifestations that can influence and move objects at will." _She obviously doesn't have the entire story…._

Naru stepped back from the computers and answered back. "That is correct, but I don't think that's what we're dealing with," he said, "Quite often objects that are manipulated by a poltergeist will feel warm to the touch." _Not always, but then again, I'm no expert_ "If we look at our thermographic image, we can see the chair is not radiating heat."

"But don't forget Tisane's criteria," John interjected.

I cocked my head to ask who or what that was.

"E. Tisane," Naru began, "He was a French policeman who was the first one to classify poltergeists-throwing objects, strange noises, fires, doors closing by themselves, and so on. There are nine different criteria in all, and so far we've seen a number of them at this site. We have doors closing on their own, inanimate objects moving, and glass breaking, which makes up three of the nine criteria."

I nodded towards Kuroda, asking about her attack. Naru seemed to understand, and Masako for some reason

"I'm afraid it was just her imagination," said Masako.

"Stop playing games with me!" Kuroda answered snappily. "Why can't you admit this place is haunted?" she asked as Masako made her way out of the room.

She turned back to the room slightly at the doorway, saying, "Alright then, I'll try once more. I will sense them if there are any spirits here," before leaving base.

"If we truly are dealing with a spirit here, and Masako can't sense it, that would be quite a shock," John said as soon as she was out of earshot.

"There's no evidence suggesting there is one," Naru replied calmly.

I wisely said nothing, but I couldn't help but notice that it seemed that naru was a sucker for beautiful people, a fascist a suppose.

"I'm much more talented than she is and I'm not getting nearly that level of respect," Ayako said hotly back. _Well, so far, you and your powers are equal to that of a tree…_

"What is it about you that I should hold in such high regard, because I'm drawing a blank," Naru said back.

"What did you just say?!"Ayako yelled. She probably would have continued if we hadn't started hearing creaking noises above us.

We looked at the ceiling and waited, I trying to see if there was any wood snapping above us, not easy to do unless Satan decided to help. And he's too busy whispering crude things into me head to do a damned thing for me.

"Creaking noises," Monk said in slight awe.

_No shit Sherlock_ I thought bitterly _seems Masako's getting hers. Wonder whose next, Monk or John?_

"It's Masako! Someone call an ambulance!" John said as he looked at some of the screens.

Soon the ambulance arrived to take Masako away.

She had fallen from the second floor. I hoped they'd take it as a warning and leave, but it didn't shock me when we got right back to work…. Damn narcissist is too stubborn for his own good, it's going to get him killed one day.

**_Later_**

**_Naru's P.O.V_**

"The portion of the eastern wall that had been demolished was boarded up with weak plywood and was by no means structurally sound. She must have leaned on it, causing it to break underneath her weight," I explained. "Ms. Hara herself said that it was an accident, she told me as she was on the stretcher that she was being careless, and that there are no spirits inside."

"We can't deny it anymore," Ayako responded, "there's obviously a force here."

"Oh, are you referring to the one you failed to exorcise?" Monk intervened. Ayako huffed in annoyance and turned her head. "We're playing with fire. An unsuccessfully exorcised spirit is like a wounded bear."

"So, what happened to Masako was Ayako's fault," Mai muttered softly, I doubt she realized she'd spoken aloud

"Oh please," Ayako responded.

"Listen," I said, stopping the bickering, "from what I saw on the video it was just an accident."

Mai shook her head (I was slightly shocked she was putting any input into this) and pointed to my research, stating that the accidents might be what were causing the possible haunting, and that's why there are more of them.

"That may be true," I said.

She seemed surprised as I turned to look at her, trying to figure her out. She seemed to know something I didn't, but she hardly put any Input into anything. It's like she thinks she'll be hurt if she does. She can't be THAT stupid, can she? So, naturally, I'm more crazed than ever to figure her out. I hate unsolved puzzles more than anything. And she is defiantly a puzzle, a strange and intriguing one at that.

"But there is simply not enough readings on the equipment to prove it. There aren't any temperature fluctuations, no ionic polarization, and the EMF readings are normal, the proof just isn't there." Not that she probably even knew what that meant, and even if she didn't I doubt she'd ask.

"But, Ayako was trapped in that room!" Kuroda yelled. _At least she let go of being attacked_. "And I was attacked upstairs!" _Thought too soon, I almost miss the uncomfortable silence Mai puts out._ "Something also moved the chair, broke the glass, and erased the video!"

"Like I said I'm still not convinced," I responded.

"Maybe we're dealing with a highly intelligent spirit that knows how to hide from your machines," Monk suggested.

I looked up again before responding, listening to the machines whir. _There's no way that a ghost could be that intelligent, except perhaps Gene…. _"What do you really think?" I asked.

"I still believe that it's a residual haunting," he responded honestly.

I turned towards John. "And you, John?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I do agree it's become quite dangerous here," he responded.

"Now, tell us what you're thinking," Monk asked me.

"I'll hold off on my opinion for now," I responded, "I'd like to investigate this from a slightly different angle." I then left the room, going off to investigate a hunch.

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

"So what do you think about this guy?" Monk said as Naru left without any indication on what he was about to go do. "He knows how to put on a show with all this equipment but I'm not convinced the boy wonder knows what he's doing."

_He knows something_ I thought, eyes narrowed slightly on where he went _he had a hunch of some sort, I could tell by his eyes._

"Let's get started," John said as he prepared to do his exorcism upstairs while we were left at base

"The teenage exorcist finally makes his appearance," Monk commented as I watched John take a crack at it.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," John preached, while throwing some water around

"Is that water?" I asked myself.

"Holy water," Monk simply responded.

He turned some pages and continue with, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God," before hearing similar snapping sounds from earlier today. _What? Again? Give us a break, where only human…_

"More strange noises," Kuroda commented.

"Wait, turn up the volume," Monk said. I reached over to where the sound was and turned up the audio of John's praying. I heard more snapping noises. _Wait, this happened before Masako's accident… hmm…. It's not the windows, or the floors… that only leaves the ceiling and the walls…. Wait, the CEILING!_

"The ceiling," I muttered as it sank in, _he might just die! That's too far even for me! Satan can kill me later, I can't keep this up!_

I ran off as I heard Monk shout out, "Hey, where are you going!"

I ignored him as I ran. _Satan's going to win this bet I thought oh well, I refuse to take part in the murder of a human! Sorry mother, father, you'll see me pass the opposite direction you've gone soon enough._

"Look out!" I yelled (my throat is sooo going to need a few lozenges' later) as he stopped his prayers and looked at me.

"Mai!" John said.

"Move it!" I snapped "the ceiling going to fall! Move your skinny ass!"

_I just cursed at a priest_ I thought incredulously _I'm so going to hell_

"John!" I shouted as it began to fall down. "JOHN!"

**_later_**

"I don't believe this," Monk said as the group looked around the room at the pieces of the ceiling.

"If Mai hadn't acted so quickly, I could have easily been injured or even killed," John stated "although I'm not happy about her foul mouth" I sweatdropped, but said nothing. He had jumped to the edge of the room, dodging the ceiling by inches.

"In the interest of safety I think we should call it for the night," Naru said as he looked at the room again, only looking at the parts that he pointed to with a flashlight "Mai, you're dismissed."

I nodded into the dark, I was too distracted… Satan's going to have some fun tonight… damn me….

"Really?" I responded, I still expected him to work me no matter the hour. I still had some temperatures to take after all.

"Yes," was his simple response.

"Alright, I guess I'll be back bright and early, while there's still life there's still hope," Ayako said dismissively.

"Just admit it and say you're scared," Monk said. I had to admit, if even Naru was dismissing me early, and not early in the morning, then you might as well say you're scared. Then again, he probably just didn't want to pay for two hospital bills. Although Ayako simply huffed at him before turning away to leave. Monk followed after her as she left the building, not saying word.

"Well seeing as I nearly lost my head a minute ago, I think I'll take your advice and retire for the evening," John said mainly to Naru before also heading out.

"You leaving?" I asked Naru, who was still looking around. I wondered if eve he sleeps? That would be interesting, I can't quite imagine it.

"Not yet, there are a few more things I want to investigate," Naru said, back facing us while he inspected the room.

"Well, just try to be careful, okay?" I mumbled. Even if he's slightly infuriating doesn't mean that I want him hurt or anything, I can't find it in me to wish it on anybody.

…But of course, a piece of wood was more interesting to him. He continued looking around, ignoring my presence.

I got out of there before he started demanding I get back to work. I was in for a long night after all.

Kuroda stood by me for a while before we both left and went home, and I was thankful for the silent company.

**_Sunday_**

I walked up to the van (keeping my limp hidden well), figuring he was probably there.

It was there I found him sleeping in the back, his coat covering him like a blanket.

_He's asleep?! Wait, he sleeps?! That's a strange thought…_

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, trying to get him to wake up.

He sifted around, waking up before responding very drowsily-which was sort of funny-, saying, "Hey Mai, what are you doing here at this hour?" while sitting up more and grabbing his head.

"Uh…" I said. _Man, he's barely even gotten a wink of sleep and he's still the same way he always is-supposedly gorgeous. Damn, I really not to stop hanging around Keiko and Michiru, there rubbing off. Though some of the girls at school would kill for this…._ "It's around lunch" I informed him "did you get any sleep?"

"Morning!" I heard Monk call. He, Ayako, and John apparently arrived together. _Hey Ayako, what happened to bright and early?_ "Looks like someone had a rough night."

"Looks to me like someone's trying to leave early," Ayako said. _I dare you to say anything about 'early' right now, late priestess! _

"You're right," Naru responded, all sleep gone from his tone, although he still didn't get up. He looked to sore to do so.

"So you're finally admitting your 'expert' opinion is totally wrong?" Ayako said accusingly. _Pot… kettle… black… need I think more?_

"Is that true?" John asked, always the one to want to know the truth.

"No, I'm leaving because I already solved the case," Naru responded. I cocked my head; he did that all in one night? There might just be more to this guy than I thought.

"So you cleaned that schoolhouse, by yourself?" Monk asked, disbelief practically coming off in waves off him.

"No, I didn't do that, there was no need to," Naru responded simply. _What do you mean? Isn't the place haunted and the spirit dangerous? Then again, that was what Kuroda thought, not the professionals… if these guys count as professionals…_

Monk's muscles tensed then relaxed, showing that he wasn't following. "What are you talking about!?" he asked

I pointed to his laptop, asking silently what he did

"Last night I compiled all of my experiments," he answered, "These are some surveying results." He turned the screen towards us. _… its hard to read then when your head is pounding… _He continued, saying, "The schoolhouse is sinking. In fact, it sank point 2 inches just last night."

"It what?" Monk said, obviously shocked.

Naru faced the group before continuing, "It's called land subsidence."

"Yeah, so what? You think subsidence is to blame for the phenomenon we've experienced?" Ayako said, testing Naru, again. _It makes sense, since everything that's happened has had something to do with the building himself._

"This entire area is built upon reclaimed swampland," Naru stated, trusting his facts. There called facts cause there true, so I suppose he knows the answer. "When I looked into the distribution of wells that were once at use, I discovered a large aquifer that passed underneath the schoolhouse, but when I checked the wells that are in the immediate area, I found them all to be dry."

I cocked my head more (I'm starting to feel like a dog) asking what that had to do with anything

"The soil here was weak to begin with, and since the water is dried up there's a hallowing affect happening underground, so naturally the structure above it will be sinking," he explained.

_Makes sense, so why are my marks searing 1__st__ degree burns into my skin? I guess where missing something._

"You're saying the glass, the chair moving, and the ceiling collapsing, are all due to subsidence?" Monk asked, still not convinced_. The glass is confusing, but the chair and the ceiling aren't that shocking_

"Yes, the floor in the classroom on the eastern side of the building where the ceiling collapsed was three inches lower than on the west side," Naru explained.

"Sounds like structural failure to me," Monk said, looking at Ayako to see what she would say.

"But what about the strange noises?" Ayako said. She really was making sure there were no gaps in the theory.

"Probably the sound of the wood shifting," Naru said, closing the laptop, "We should have the surrounding area declared off-limits," he said as he stood up and looked at the schoolhouse. "It's so structurally unsound it might come down any day now."

I gave a small nod of understanding, but I doubt anyone noticed.

**_Naru's P.O.V_**

We ended up at base where Mai and I started packing his equipment as the others watched. She tried her hardest, but eventually I told her to go stand with the others, she was making more trouble than helping it.

"I knew it!" Kuroda said when she found out about my explanation. "You can't explain what attacked me, can you?" _She's still convinced? Or is she just trying to defend place that seemingly proves her 'abilities'? _I noticed that Mai rolled her eyes just a bit, so I suppose she wasn't set on that either.

"If what you claim really did occur, then perhaps it's the work of a floating specter that's following you," I said, doubt most likely evident in my tone, most likely due to a lack of sleep and a lack of caffeine- delivered via tea. I haven't had much decent tea lately, and Lin mostly makes Chinese tea, which isn't to my taste. And I was getting backlash.

She looked at me before responding, think up what to say. "Just listen! I'm not making this up!" she said. _Does she completely believe that?_

"Are we leaving?" Mai asked quietly, it's as though she knows what I'm going to do next sometimes; she's only confusing my further the longer we work together.

"Yes, the job's done," I answered her as I put more wires into one of the boxes. The job may be done, but I felt as if this would not be the last time I saw this group or the old schoolhouse.

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

"Right" I answered, and nodded my goodbye to each of them.

"There is a spirit here, I know it," Kuroda said, her expression a bit complex. Its as if she's trying to convince herself…

"You're wrong, I have scientific evidence to back up my claim," Naru said. I could almost hear his patience with her starting to snap.

"Did you ever consider that maybe the spirit is avoiding your tests?" she yelled back. I wanted to roll my eyes; something tells me he's very through on this type of thing.

_And there went the last of Naru's Patience, which I think he was using on me and the others._

"Then exorcise it yourself, that should be easy for someone with your skills," Naru said. Kuroda glared back while Naru turned back towards the other side of the room with the rest of the equipment. "There's nothing more for me to investigate here so I'm leaving, end of story," he replied. He seemed to be a bit calmer now that Kuroda seemed to have run out of comebacks.

I nodded, but said nothing. An awkward silence went through the air until Suddenly we heard glass cracking. The panes right next to Kuroda were cracking. Kuroda, who had figured what would happen next due to Ayako's experience, ducked while the rest of us got ready for action.

_Why am I not surprised that the ghost only came out when Kuroda was angry?_

She screamed as the glass fell, but seemed to be alright. "Kuroda!" I yelled, hoping she would not be too disoriented by the sudden turn in events and would be able to locate us over here. It seemed to have worked. She looked over towards us, uninjured but shaken. I sensed closer at her and saw, what looked to be faint jagged lines coming out of her. Banging noises began to be heard, not creaking, but straight up banging noises on the walls around us. I turned towards what seemed to be the locations of the bangs, and all the places had the faint line coming from Kuroda to the source of the noise.

_Ah, I see, so she's doing all of this..._

Kuroda held her head, trying to block it all out, she was scared, really scared. _But those faint lines coming out her make it look as though she was doing this herself…_

"What's going on?" Ayako said, seeming to voice everyone's thoughts.

"Well it's more than just the place sinking!" Monk said_. It seems you like to state the obvious. It's getting boring…._

"We need to get out of here, now!" Monk yelled.

Naru seemed to snap out of whatever it was he was in and yelled, "This is it! Everybody, out! GO, Mai!" _why is it you make me top priority?_

"But what about the doors?" I yelled back, turning my attention to Naru, who looked ready to run like hell was at his heels. _Not that he knew how scary that really was_

"Leave that to me!" yelled Monk as he threw a chair at the remaining wood that had held the panes that had broken not even a minute before. "Over here, this way!" he yelled as everyone followed him out. I walked as fast as possible, but made sure to be the last person out.

**_Later_**

We stood in front of the building again.

"Are you okay, Kuroda?" I asked when I noticed her hand was bleeding. My voice is getting hoarse; I hope I won't have to talk much more…

"You're bleeding, let me see your hand," Ayako said, gently taking Kuroda's hand. "It's okay, cut's not too deep," she told her. If _it was deep she would feel it_

Monk looked at us then towards Naru, who was staring at the building. Then Monk started yelling, "What was that? And don't try to feed me that sinking theory again. That was a full-on poltergeist wasn't it?!" _again, no duh. I see why they hired you…. baka's…._

Ayako tied up Kuroda's hand in a handkerchief before also turning towards Naru. "That sound wasn't just the creaking of an old building, something was definitely banging on the walls," she said defiantly.

_Lovely, they may just figure something out yet…._

John calmly turned to talk as well, seeming to be the calm one of the group. "That means we've already witnessed four of the nine criteria that were laid out by Tisane," he said, still wanting to work with Naru, not against him, it seemed.

"That just goes to show that you can't depend too much on technology," Ayako said spitefully. "For a minute there I was actually going to believe you and your phony results."

"Stick around, Naru, and you'll see how the true professionals do things," Monk said, still showing animosity towards Naru.

_Then again… these fools may never know…_

"Maybe it's time someone went back to school," Ayako said as she and Monk left the scene.

I rolled my eyes, and said softly, having noticed his hand earlier "you hand is bleeding."

"It's nothing serious," he said, holding it up as if to make a point. "It's just a scratch. I will be fine," he said his tone seeming to be pissed off, although it didn't seem to be aimed towards me. "You should just tend to Kuroda."

"Naru…" I said, I didn't want to listen to him if it got infected.

"I'd appreciate it," he stated, harshly at first, "if you left me alone for a little while." He was trying not to misdirect his anger at me. "I'm so mad at myself I could throw up!"

"…fine," I responded, I figured he probably was blaming himself for getting us in danger… He walked off, or more of sulked off, going who knows where to cool down for a bit

_And there goes the only one here with any clue… I hope he gets back here before they kill themselves._

**_A few hours later_**

"You're not going to watch the monk's attempt with the rest of us?" Ayako cooed as I walked into base.

"No, I'm not!" I yelled. I was tired of all these 'exorcisms', none of them were working since there was no spirit here.

I doubted Naru wanted this stuff to be laying around, so I started taking things out.

"You're still buying your boss's explanation?" Ayako asked from the doorway with Monk right beside her.

I glared, and said loudly to make sure they heard me "I don't see you idiots coming up with anything. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong. It seems that were all too dumb to figure it out ourselves."

Ayako glared at me while the air got tense. "Easy now," John said, trying to calm us down.

Shortly after Monk started his exorcism… which seemed to consist of gibberish chanting 'ban' and 'kan' every other syllable, I realized that they really thought a spirit was here, and they weren't going to stop until it was long gone.

_Naru, wherever the hell you are, stop pouting and get back here so you can tell these idiots what's up! I don't know if I can take much more of this! Lucky him, he gets to skip out on dealing with them for the night. Why did I have to get attacked by a shoe cart?_

John and I had decided to also set a few things up around the schoolhouse, in case something significant happened at least we'll have proof.

"I just set the microphone up on the second floor," John said as he walked down the stairs.

I nodded a thank you.

I was interrupted from my thoughts as I started to hear footsteps down the hall "Oh, hi Kuroda," I greeted.

"Any news?" she asked me.

"Uh, right, the monk and the others are making their rounds right now," I answered.

"What about Kazuya?" she continued.

"I don't know where he is," I said with a shrug. "Aw man, are there really any spirits here?" I asked myself.

"Yes, I saw them," Kuroda said, still holding firm to that.

I nodded, she'd told me that plenty of times.

"They're not here anymore," Ayako said from behind us. We turned towards her and she continued, "The expulsion was a success."

"You said that last time," I replied grimly. What was so different this time than last time she did an exorcism?

"Well, this time I'm sure of it," Ayako said, obviously taken back by my speaking up.

"They're still here," Kuroda said, grabbing both my and Ayako's attentions. "I can feel them, in fact there are many spirits trapped here," she continued. She is starting to sound like a broken record. I wonder if she realizes it herself.

"Are you still pretending?" Ayako said snidely. "Give it a rest, we're the professionals here." _She does realize I'm not a professional either, right? Then again, we hardly know each other…_

"Unless I'm mistaken you haven't done anything," Kuroda defended.

"We're good now," Monk said as he and John walked towards the rest of us. "Ayako's attempt may have been a complete failure but mine wasn't." _it seems I was right about the married couple arguing._

"Excuse me?" Ayako shouted back.

"Well, it is true, isn't it?" Monk prodded.

"Don't take credit for my work!" she yelled.

"Same to you," was the calm response.

"Get over yourself!" she yelled at him again.

"You have not right to talk" I grumbled, before saying "would you all be quiet!? Or can you only follow one instruction at a time?"

"Shh," John said quietly. "I hear something."

We all quieted down and listened-and heard footsteps on the floor above us.

"Someone's here," Ayako whispered as we stared at the ceiling

"I know," Monk said like it was obvious-which it sort of was.

We continued listening as the footsteps came closer overhead and started down the started down the staircase. I noticed that the little lightning thing from before was back, and was once again connected to Kuroda.

Monk ran towards the stairs as the footsteps grew closer and closer.

"Are you stupid?" I asked as he ran past me.

He ignored me and disappeared around the stairwell as the stairs turned. Ayako stood near me as all of us waited for Monk to come back or to say something.

"Do you see anybody?" I yelled up at him. Man my throat's killing me, as well as my head and leg.

"Nope, must've imagined it," Monk yelled back.

"That's crazy; all of us?" I yelled again as he heard him walk down the stairs. "I definitely heard something! You heard it too, right Monk?"

"It was just the wind," Ayako tried to sell us.

"I am sick of this!" I yelled. There is no way that was the wind! "You didn't get rid of them either, did you?! After what you said to Naru this makes you look so stupid! I don't remember Naru coming up with any lame excuses, do you?! Funny how the adults are acting like the damned chil-" _BANG!_ I was interrupted from my ranting. Good thing too, I was just about to go hoarse.

The banging noises from earlier started again. "It's back!" John exclaimed. More lightning all around, only it was everywhere, and seemed more violent than before.

The lights broke, sending glass raining from the ceiling.

"This is the most activity we've seen yet!" John said as we dodged the glass.

"It sounds like there's more than one!" Monk shouted as we looked-or again in my case, sensed-around the hallway, trying to find a source. I kept ending up looking at Kuroda and the faint lightning streaks. "It's too dangerous in here, let's get outside!" no, lets stay inside and get killed, hurry up you BAKA'S!

"I'm right behind you," I yelled, then turned towards Kuroda. "Come on Kuroda!" I yelled as we ran and dodged wood falling from the ceiling.

"Right!" she yelled back as we ran.

The shoe lockers started shaking and swaying dangerously as we ran past. We were almost out of the building when the shoe locker right next to me began to fall towards me. I screamed as I put my arms in front of me as it fell on me. _Warm…._

"Aw hell!" I yelled, bracing for impact.

"MAI!" I heard Monk yell.

At that point, I lost consciousness

Satan's having a field day… i just know it...

**Here's my chapter 2! I know I made Mai a little O.C., but she's cursed by Satan, she isn't going to have the best outlook on life! Review please!**

**Baka is Japanese for idiot by the way, or moron, or even dimwit. Whichever fits the situation best.**


	3. evil spirits all over part 3

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

I remember once being told that I could affect the dead and the living. I never figured out the 'affect the dead' part of the story, but it was what got me started on ghost stories when I tried to figure it out. As for the affecting the living part, I just figured my bluntness had something to do with it.

Currently, I think I'm somewhere in between 'living' and 'dead'

I felt… warm. But yet, cold. I felt stiff yet relaxed. Comfortable yet not. I supposed that this was a sort of karma, too. I had almost gotten hit by the shoe racks earlier, but Naru's actual assistant pushed me out of the way and kept me from being injured while getting hurt himself. And now, I was quite possibly dead for the exact same reason, a shoe racks fell on me. Man, that would be seriously ironic, good going Satan, you seem to understand humor. But I doubted I was fully dead, I could feel the marks glowing beneath the cool leather of my gloves, underneath the long sleeves I wear.

I could feel a hand lay itself on my forehead, and opened my eyes. I could see lights, lots of lights. It didn't surprise me, I often could see rather clearly in my dreams. I turned my head to look at the person whose hand was still on my forehead and saw… A boy?

"Hello?" I said to the boy as he smiled at me kindly at me with gentle eyes.

"Hello," he said back as I closed my eyes again tiredly.

My eyes snapped open, that sounded like Naru! But I could tell it wasn't him, his voice was slightly… different. I couldn't place it.

Who are you?" I asked as I held my head, a headache seeming to be coming on. A lot has happened today, no wonder why I got one. I guess it confirms that I'm not dead, not yet at least. That, or the afterlife can hurt you just as much as real life. But I know I'm not destined for the afterlife, so I can't be dead. yet…

"Go back to sleep," he said softly, ignoring my question as he pushed me down gently.

"You avoided my question," I mumbled while I looked up at the boy again. I felt really drowsy again. He just lowered his eyes a bit, as if also a bit tired. I closed my eyes slowly, I saw no point in speaking to him further, maybe he'd leave soon….

**_Monday_**

**_Day 5_**

"Mai, wake up!" I heard someone say. It sounded like Monk, but it was like I was hearing through a haze of some sort.

I opened my eyes to see that Ayako, John, and Monk were standing next to me, in what I could only guess was the back of the van.

"I think she's gonna be okay guys," John assured them

"Hey Mai how do you feel?" Monk asked me.

"Boy, we were really worried there for a minute," Ayako said before I could say anything.

'I'm sorry. But you don't need to worry about me." I said softly.

"You were out for quite a while there, it's already four o'clock in the morning," Monk informed me.

"Did Naru ever come back?" I asked them. I was silently thankful they didn't touch my jacket, move my shirt down by accident and see my neck mark, or take my gloves off.

"Nope," Monk answered, and I nodded.

I stood up from where I was sitting in the van. "Where's Kuroda?" I asked, noting my classmate's absence.

"She went home," Ayako replied "…which, come to think of it, isn't entirely a bad idea. Exorcisms have had no effect. It's possible that even our own safety could be compromised."

"So you wanna run away?" I asked.

"Need I remind you that it was your own boss who ran away first?!" Ayako shouted. "He probably went home and cried himself to sleep."

"doubtful" I growled "he probably got sick of dealing with idiots."

"Well if I were to guess he ran away because of us, we did kinda gang up on him yesterday you know," Monk stated. _No shit... did this just occur to you?_

"Yes, but remember you're referring to the world's biggest swollen-headed stuck-up self-absorbed holier-than-thou narcissist," I reminded them. There's no way Naru wouldn't brush this off until getting revenge in his own way, and that meant he most certainly _wasn't _crying in bed. it was more likely he'd be researching or something…

"Maybe Kazuya is at home, stewing with unbridled rage while making straw ethigy dolls of each of us," John said with a completely straight face.

I thought over it a moment, and did something I haven't done in years, I laughed. I started laughing at the thought of Naru making Voodoo dolls of all of us while the rest joined in. _That probably sounds more like him than anything else the other two suggested._

_But it's such a freakin ridiculous mental image… Naru really will kill if he finds out! Or maybe he'll take the suggestion seriously… I'm going to find out._

**_Later_**

"Morning!" I muttered to Keiko and Michiru as I stepped into the classroom.

"Oh my gosh, Mai!" the two girls answered in unison.

"Are you okay?" asked Keiko.

"We heard something happened to you; fill us in on all the details!" Michiru added to Keiko's statement.

"Oh, where did you hear that?" I asked, I don't remember telling anyone that something happened.

"Kuroda told us, she's been bragging to the whole class about it all morning," Keiko said while pointing to Kuroda, who was talking to a bunch of students that stood around her. _What's there to brag about?_ I thought cruelly _that you ran the scared coward you are? Pathetic._

"And you'll never guess what happened to us," Michiru commented.

"Kazuya just called us up out of nowhere! We talked for like, ten minutes!" Keiko said happily.

"He called?!" I asked as I grabbed onto Keiko's shoulders.

"Yeah, last night," Michiru said curiously.

"Yeah," Keiko confirmed.

"Last night? He's been missing since yesterday afternoon, what did you talk about?!" I asked my mind on rapid fire. Why the hell didn't he tell us he was done pouting? Dumbass.

"Uh, you know, like this and that." Typical Keiko. "He asked us what we knew about the old schoolhouse and stuff."

"He asked us a lot of questions about Kuroda," Michiru added.

_What the heck is Naru up to? And why not inform us about his plans_

I walked over to my seat, fuming a little bit.

"Oh, there you are. Kuroda, Mai, you're wanted in the principal's office, a teacher said from the doorway of our classroom.

"Hello?" I called out as I opened the principal's door.

There, inside the principal's office, stood Naru. He stood in front of window like someone who had been waiting on someone would. He turned towards us as Kuroda and I stepped in. bout time he showed up.

"Please take a seat," the principal said to us both.

"Okay, this makes up everyone who's been involved in a case thus far," Naru said as Kuroda sat in the chair at the end of the row and I next to John. "This should only take a few minutes," Naru told us before pulling the curtains together. _What's with the lightout_? _Is he trying to make it dark?_ The windows were soon covered, and Naru turned on some sort of weird machine. It gave off a high-pitched whir as it turned on, and all I could tell was it seemed to be a lamp of some sort, only with an overly-large bulb on a skinny bit of metal. Everyone's attention seemed to be on the bulb, so I gave my all to it as well.

I'd like everyone to focus on the light," Naru said, his monotone voice seeming a bit gentle but still demanding as he looked around at us, seeming to always come back to me. I looked at the lamp for good gesture, but I don't understand why we needed the damn thing.

"Now control your breathing so it's in sync with the light," Naru continued, his voice now soft. My eyes got to be half-lidded as exhaustion started setting in. Everyone started to get their breathing to be in sync so I got my breathing to be in sync with theirs. "Very slowly, relax your shoulders," he continued in his soft voice.

"Concentrate on your breathing," Naru said, his voice partially lost to my conscious I was starting to weaken. _I'm getting really sleepy... maybe it's because of what happened last night. I'm probably just tired. _"Now start counting your breaths. Breathe deep. Nice," he continued again. _He sounds so far away. I'm going to fall asleep soon if he doesn't stop whatever it is he's doing._ "Tonight the chair in the second floor of the old schoolhouse will move," Naru's voice was barely making it through my sleepy haze. _Chair…_ "Tomorrow, we'll all meet in the laboratory," his voice hazily said._Laboratory… Chair… chair…_

I was just about unconscious when the high-pitched whir stopped and the curtains opened to let sunlight in. What really woke me up, though, was Kuroda letting off the faint electric lines again, this time focused on a chair in front of Naru.

"That's all I need. Thank you for your cooperation," Naru said as he still clutched the curtain. Now I definitely want to know what happened. He was saying 'thank you', and I already knew that meant he had a plan

'I'm sleepy," Monk complained as he stood up and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the nagging feeling to sleep to go away.

Ayako stood up holding her head while adding, "So am I," to the conversation. Masako then stood up herself while rubbing at her eyes while the rest of us sat there in similar positions. I thought back to right before I had almost-but-not-quite fallen asleep. I had seen something in a dream-like state.

It was the same setting as the dream from last night with the boy.

Only this time, the naru-look-alike wasn't there. Something else was there instead.

There was a chair.

**_Moments later_**

"Naru!" I shouted down the hallway after I had been dismissed from the office. Naru had left right after he had thanked us for our cooperation (in what, I still didn't understand) without us noticing until the principal let us leave a minute later.

Naru turned his head slightly towards me to indicate he heard but he didn't stop walking nor did he comment. I slowed down as I got right behind him, walking in pace with him. "Where did you go yesterday?" I asked curiously_. You're the only person who seems to understand anything about this after all._

"Nowhere special," he said simply before turning his head to look in front of him again. "I heard you got injured."

"I'm not dead, so it's no big deal" I commented lightly. Why'd he care, anyway? I was here, not in hospital "what was that light?"

"Shouldn't you be heading back to class now?" he ignored my question. Why am I not surprised?

"I'm not too worried about it," I said. I wasn't a complete idiot in my classes, and I knew that the teacher didn't really start teaching until halfway through class anyway, so I had a few minutes to spare.

He turned his head towards me like before and said, "So you're skipping class because you _want _to be stupid?" before turning his head back around and left me behind to glare at him. He was putting his outside shoes back on before I caught up to tell him something. I wanted to know if he knew his look alike, but I knew better than to ask that.

"Hold on a second, there's something I want to ask you," I said when I finally got in close enough to ask him without yelling. "Did you come back last night?" I asked. I still was a bit worried about the dream thing I had. Was the look alike good or bad?

"To… the school? Uh-uh, why?" Naru answered, facing towards me again. _Because I met your look-alike. I can't tell him that!_

"Oh, um, uh, no reason. Well, time to get back to class. See ya!" I said as Naru walked away before I had even finished my first 'sentence'. Which, by the way, was more like me babbling than actual words.

_just as I suspected. Naru would never smile like that. Oh well, at least I know that is was just a dream now. Why do I keep thinking about that? Does that mean…? Oh no. No no no no no. no way in hell! I AM NOT IN LOVE! That's it, next time I see dream-guy I'm giving him a thrashing for being there then making him explain! GAH!_

**_Later_**

Later, after school, I walked over to the van again to see if Naru was there. He was, after all, still my boss, whether or not I may-or-may-not have a SMALL crush on him. Or, well, my subconscious did. Which is a part of me. I had been in this thinking loop all day and it hadn't been getting me anywhere. If anything, it was getting me even more stuck.

Naru was, in fact, to be found in the back of the van, holding a pair of headphones attached to his laptop over his ears, listening to something. I thought back to the smiling boy in my dreams. Again. It made me feel weird. I can't let him get in the way of my bet. These emotions will die down eventually.

Were you the one who set up the microphone on the second floor last night?" Naru asked me, oblivious to my internal struggle with my feelings. Thank everything in the universe for that.

I nodded, hoping that he wouldn't notice something was bothering me.

"Well, you did an excellent job, Mai. We picked up some very interesting noises," he turned his head back to the laptop screen. I stared at him for a moment. Did he just give me a complement without insulting my intelligence? I never thought I'd live long enough to see the day. "What's up?" he said casually as he turned towards me while I stared.

"There was something I wanted to mention. You know that shoe rack? The one that fell on top of me? It was warm, and I remember you saying that poltergeists cause things to heat up." I muttered, never once looking him in the eye

"I'm impressed you remember that," Naru commented.

I noticed john walking up the street, so I said nothing more.

Good'ay Mai," John greeted. He sounded a bit tired, but all of us are tired, so I suppose it's not that surprising. At least he showed up, unlike Monk and Ayako. Who knows where Masako went…

"John," I casually muttered back. My throat still hurt a lot from all the talking I was doing lately.

Naru looked over at the new arrival and took the headphones off. "Now, let's get started," he said, confusing both John and me.

_I get the feeling we just got roped into something…_

_Knowing Naru, I probably just did._

**_Later_**

"Hm… A chair… and a camera" I muttered, curiosity getting the better of me as I left John to setting the camera up. "What are you setting up over there?"

"This," Naru indicated to the thing he was setting up right outside the door of the classroom, "is a radar."

"I thought they only used those things on airplanes? Why do you have one?" I asked softly. I don't know what he was up to, but it made my marks burn... so it was dangerous to Kuroda, or at least to whatever she was doing…

"If I told you it wouldn't work," Naru said as if that explained everything.

I sighed and nodded no point in arguing it.

"Take some of that plywood over there and start boarding up all the windows and doors in that room." Naru commanded

I grabbed the hammer and begrudgedly stared at it before getting to work. _What's his problem?!_ I thought as I hammered a board in place. _Oh wait, he's naru, of course he does…_

And then, somehow, Naru got John boarding up the place too. John was sometimes too nice for his own good. All while Naru continued fiddling with the radar or something. I honestly think he just didn't want to put up boards. Jerk. _Although, if I were him, I'd probably do the same, DAMN! Don't put yourself on his level!_

John and I were soon finished and I leaned against the strongest part of the plywood-the part that was nailed onto a support post. "My arms are killing me," I groaned as said limbs throbbed with pain. Naru then held out a marker to both John and me, and I cocked my head wearily in question.

"Both of you, take this, and sign your names on the board."

I took the marker and handed it to John so he could sign first. Naru held another marker out for me, and I took it as well.

A while later I got to the last board out of what seemed to be hundreds. _This better be the last one, or I may just lose the feeling in my arms…_

"Now, write your names on this paper. After you're done, you can go home," Naru said after he taped a piece of paper over the two pieces of plywood that covered the door.

"Is there a point to this?" I asked quietly

"You'll find out tomorrow," was he said as he walked away. _Why am I not surprised? That was such a Naru thing to do…_

_I sighed, and left for home. Not much Satan can hurt me for at least.._

**_Tuesday_**

**_Day 6_**

I walked towards the old school early in the morning. I was nearing the van when I noticed someone else leaning with one hand on the van and holding a crutch under his arm. His left ankle was injured. Kazuya was on one knee, looking at something on a laptop with the other man.

_Oh boy, it's the real assistant… I'm so doomed… hope he doesn't hold a grudge…_

"What are you doing here so early?" Naru asked.

I just shook my head, I wasn't about to explain that I was up all night because of the experiment.

"You'll have to wait a bit more, everyone will be here soon," Naru said before going back to the computer screen.

"Everyone? Even the monk and Ayako? What for?" I asked curiously. I doubted Ayako would want to be up this early. Hell, no one would, including me.

He didn't answer. _Smug, as usual. Damn him and his look-alike._

"Are you feeling better?" I asked Lin (that was his name, right?). I got a glare in turn. I didn't say anything else and instead sat and waited for everyone else. I'm not shocked he hates me.

"So what's the plan for today, Naru?" Monk asked from beside Ayako.

"Yes," Ayako, who stood to the right of Lin, continued, "let's hope for your sake you don't embarrass yourself yet again."

Naru ignored her and turned towards John and me. "Now, would you two please confirm that the paper you signed yesterday hasn't been tampered with," Naru told us.

I nodded, and looked at the paper closely, before nodding again; I then cocked my head to John, silently asking if it was okay to him too.

"Fine," he responded.

"Alright," Naru replied as he picked up a crowbar and fisted it into both hands. I almost think he was about to enjoy whatever it was he was about to do, but his face said nothing. Lin even put his camera down to his side to watch him do this; I guess he knew what was going on. I didn't, however, I didn't like the thought of him with a dangerous weapon.

Naru stuck the crowbar into the small space between the boards in front of the door before swinging the bar back, pulling the panel clear off the wall. I was right, he's enjoying this.

He was, apparently, even stronger than I gave him credit for. Apparently the same was for John, because he backed away too, only where he was staring at the wall, I was staring at Naru, Kuroda stared with a sort of curiosity, Masako looked as if she was calculating the situation, waiting patiently, Monk looked on in silent surprise, his jaw tight, and Ayako had an indescribable blank look on her face.

The entrance was now opened, but Naru just stood there looking in, and so we stepped in, I going in first and everyone else following me.

John muttered "Oh my Lord," as he saw it. "The chair, it's moved!" the chair had moved, by itself, out of the circle of chalk. The question was… how did it get there? _Wait, I know the answer to that. Kuroda… just what did she do?_

"Indeed it has," Naru said as we walked into the room. I'd almost think he was… giddy… about this whole thing. Probably because it meant he could get this over with and leave all us fools in the dust.

"So what exactly does this prove?" Ayako stated as she put her hand up to chin, her other hand naturally cupping onto her elbow.

"Would you care to explain?" Monk voiced out as well. It seemed redundant, but everyone was curious. Well, maybe except Lin. I can't really figure much about him out. My marks felt, almost, cool. Like a cool ice pack on my arm, but not as freezing. It was almost… nice…

Naru didn't answer for a moment, simply looking over some equipment before saying, "I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation. I'll be finishing this investigation today."

"Let me get this straight, are you claiming to have solved the case again?" Ayako questioned.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Naru responded coolly.

I pointed to the floor, asking if he meant the ground again.

"Yes, all of the issues that the principal originally brought to my attention can be explained by ground subsidence," Naru explained to everyone.

"Yeah? Then what about the disturbances we saw the day before yesterday?" Monk glared.

"Now those _were_ from a poltergeist," Naru answered.

"You're not making any sense!" he shouted.

"What else can he do?" Ayako interrupted Monk's questioning. "We all know he can't exorcise it," she shifted her eyes over to Naru, "right?" She said it as a fact, not a question.

"There's no need for exorcisms in this circumstance," Naru didn't even think twice about the insult. Actually, I don't think he even thought about it _once._ "Watch this, and you'll see."

Everyone looked over at the monitor. The chair in a green circle appeared. _Isn't that the experiment? I wonder why he didn't just tell me he watched the feedback, guess he pulled a Naru._

I then heard rattling over the speakers. I concentrated as best as I could on whatever it was that was caught on camera. Everyone collectively gasped. The chair leg began to move on its own accord. I could see faint dark purple lightning again, just like what I had recently started SEEING Kuroda be surrounded by. Everyone else was surprised that it was moving by itself, and that it wasn't just sliding against the ground. It was moving UP and DOWN in the AIR. _How the hell could kuroda do this? It didn't seem possible!_

The chair continued to rattle before moving back against the far wall, then moving as if being lifted and then dropped on its side. It was then that I realized something else.

The chair in the video was the same chair I had seen back in the principal's office. How had I not noticed earlier?

I watched blankly, trying to figure out how she could do it, but I said nothing. All this stress from the week (as well as watching a chair move) made me want to scream, but I didn't even try.

"What was that?" I asked, not afraid to voice myself for once.

"Well it's obviously a poltergeist," Monk answered

"Humans are to blame for over half of reported poltergeists every year," Naru stated.

"You mean like a prank?" I questioned soflty, starting to calm down "But no one could have gotten in there."

"True, we did seal off every entrance," Naru explained. '_We' meaning John and I while you fiddled with some radar which I'm not even sure you should legally HAVE_ "I even had John and Mai sign their names on each panel so we could tell if someone had tampered with one." _Ohhh that explains that part._

"If someone had attempted to replace any broken pieces, there's little chance they could've replicated my signature," John inputted. Right, since his name is English and all, it doesn't have a kanji like everyone else's… unless they took a very good English class.

"This only proves that I've been right all along!" Kuroda pointed out, speaking for the first time.

"I placed a hypnotic suggestion in everyone's mind yesterday that this chair would move before we met here this evening," Naru said calmly.

"So far this method has never failed me," Naru continued, "And I have no reason to believe that it will today." I nodded; I could see how it would work.

"Poltergeists are a form of latent mental powers often by people who have an unconscious craving for attention. When stress is introduced a self-defense type mechanism reacts in the brain. Hypnotic suggestions can become a reality in these types of situations," Naru explained.

_So he did realize it was Kuroda, that's good. And about damn time._

So you're saying… that I'm responsible for this?" Kuroda said as she took a few steps back away from us, her voice wavered. Not that I blamed her, everyone in the room was staring at her. Ayako had a cold glare. Monk seemed to be glaring to, but also was curious about how things were unfolding. John looked surprised, Masako seemed to be merely glancing her way, but paused to continue staring and Lin was… well, Lin. I already knew all of this, so I wasn't surprised.

Naru then brought our attention back to him. "From the moment I met you I knew you were trying to impress me," he said, walking a few steps closer. "For example you claimed to have seen spirits that still remained here from the war. However, there is no evidence of this area being bombed during the war, or of this building being used as a hospital. In fact, there was never a hospital built on this land, period. That means you were either mistaken, or intentionally lying to me and the others." _That had to hurt…_

"I'm not a liar," Kuroda defended.

"At first I thought you were just pretending to be spiritually sensitive, so when things started happening that could only be explained as a poltergeist, I became quite perplexed," Naru continued, shifting his eyes to Masako. "My scientific experiments and Ms. Hara's psychic readings both came up clean-we determined there were no spirits." He looked back at Kuroda. "That means the haunting was of human origin." Kuroda wouldn't meet his gaze, and was clenching her fists as she glared at the ground. "Poltergeist activity is often caused by children in their early teens. There are numerous cases involving teenaged girls in particular. It's a form of psychokinesis that can occur in periods of great stress."

I thought back to how Kuroda usually observed people at school. Now it seemed so obvious what she was thinking. She wanted a friend, and even if Satan's going to rip me apart for doing it, I was going to be that friend.

"Ever since middle school you were known amongst your peers for being sensitive to spirits. But once it was proven by me that the strange phenomenon happening here was in fact due to ground subsidence, you naturally lost whatever confidence or faith you held in your own psychic abilities. This caused you immense anxiety because it went against your own beliefs, and although you could see the merits of my evidence, you still wanted to believe the spirits were to blame. You told yourself there was no other way. You simply couldn't face the truth," Naru said as we observed Kuroda slowly become more and more downcast at herself, admitting to herself the truth. Even Naru, who had shown next to no sympathy to me over the last few days as he worked me as hard and long as he could, had a gentle-ish tone to his voice. Well, as far as the definition of 'gentle' went with Naru.

Then, Kuroda broke down and started crying, holding her hands to her face. I slowly walked over, and pulled her in a half-hug, something I hadn't done in years.

"You had no idea you did it, wow…" Monk marveled. He also seemed shocked that I willingly came in contact with another person.

"I firmly believe that you're a latent psychic, Kuroda," Naru said to her. I cocked my head slightly, what the hell was that?

"A latent psychic is someone who has supernatural abilities. She's not aware of it, but she has some level of PK," Naru explained. Kuroda lifted her hands away from her face at the information sunk in, but looking slightly confused. _She's right there, you know. I think she's aware…_ "I'll say this for your sake Mai. 'PK' is short for psychokinesis."

"Thank you, I'm so grateful…" I muttered sarcastically. There's _the ego I've grown used too._

"She believed that there had to be spirits present in the old schoolhouse in order to attract the attention of those around her. In order to be who she was," Naru concluded, seeming to be done explaining the whole thing.

"You know, I think I can understand. It's natural really," I said to Kuroda. Everyone turned towards me. "Think about it, everyone wants to believe they're special in some way, a desire to stand out from the crowd and be unique as a person. It could be a talent, or just the hope that you're recognized as an honest and kind human being." Now Naru had his evaluation face on. In other words, he's evaluating me much like he evaluated any and all cameras I even looked at. I ignored him to look at Kuroda. "In your case, Kuroda, I would imagine that it's your ability to communicate with spirits." Kuroda looked really shy and reclusive while I just beamed, hoping she would feel better. I let go of her because she was done crying, and gave her a small smile.

"Does that explanation satisfy everyone?" Naru asked.

"Not quite," Ayako said, stepping forward from our little group. "According to that account her elevated stress levels came after you gave us your little theory on ground subsidence, or whatever it was," Ayako pointed out, then stomped her foot. "What about me getting stuck in that room, or the video being erased, explain that!" Kuroda tensed up a bit. _I think I know now._

"The reason you became trapped in that room is simple. There was a nail sticking out from the floor," Naru said as he pulled out the nail he'd been playing with before.

"That's it?" Ayako looked bug-eyed at the nail. _I say it was karma for how cocky you've been acting_

"I had noticed it that day but I never mentioned it because I didn't feel it was necessary at the time," Naru explained.

"Then, someone did that on purpose?" Ayako looked over to Kuroda. "Was it you?!" Ayako accused a very guilty looking Kuroda. _Don't be guilty; she kinda deserved it with how she was acting…_

"You were just trying to get back a little at Ms. Matsuzaki. After all, she had verbally attacked you outside just moments before," Naru explained Kuroda's actions. It was weird how he kept explaining her own brain to her, like he was reminding an amnesia patient of her past. It's getting very annoying.

"What about the video?" Ayako asked, even though I'm pretty sure everyone already knew the answer. She seems to be a little ignorant on that type of thing.

"The video tape was intentionally erased," Naru faced towards Ayako, "When you became trapped, we all left the base to come to your aid. There was plenty of time for someone to slip in there and erase the tape without ever being seen."

"This is ridiculous," Ayako glared at Kuroda.

"What are we supposed to do now? The principal hired all of us to get this place ready so they can continue construction," Monk spoke up_. It will be safe now; I'll watch over Kuroda, we'll be fine._

"I plan to report the following story to the principal," Naru faced the rest of the group again. "The old schoolhouse was haunted by those who died here during the war. They've all been exorcised and the structure is now clean of any paranormal activity." Naru then faced Kuroda again. "That sound okay, Kuroda?" he asked. She looked up at him for a moment before looking down and nodding.

"That's very kind of you Naru, but will you really lie to the principal? He deserves to know the real story," Masako commented for the first time. She had a point. It was very kind. I got the feeling that Naru had his own reasons for not telling the real story… and I wasn't about to ask

"Oh, I had no idea you were so sensitive. Do you have a girlfriend?" Ayako asked, leaning against his arm.

"I'm not sure I fully understand your question," Naru said simply. Of course, everything else in the world, he's a genius. Kindness? He sucked at showing it, like I said, but he could do it. Girls though? he just a guy after all, none of them ever have a clue.

"I'm saying I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even though you are quite young," Ayako said. _It took all my strength not to laugh, and she claims to be a priestess!_

Naru seemed to understand now. He didn't look too terribly excited. "Although I do appreciate the offer," he began an obvious 'no' which seemed shocking to Ayako, "I must decline." Then he began to smirk. Not a good sign. "I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror."

Of course, this resulted in the rest of us, excluding Lin, to go into laughing fits. Even Masako had turned away and laughed.

"Let's get serious and decide who's going to take credit for this job," Ayako yelled at us.

"Everyone contributed equally. Are we all okay with that?" Naru said. We exchanged looks before nodding simultaneously. It made sense

"Then Mai…" Naru said, looking at me.

"I already know, boss," I said, walking up to him.

"Lin, let's start breaking camp," he looked over to his actual assistant.

Lin just nodded and said, "Right," in response.

**_Outside_**

Outside, Ayako yawned and said, "That wasn't such a big deal after all," as she walked away with Monk. Kuroda quickly bowed in thanks and goodbye and followed them over to the street, heading for the school.

"Admit it, you were scared in there, weren't you," I could hear Monk retort.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Ayako deadpanned. I could faintly hear Monk's laughter as they got farther away.

_Well, I guess this is it. The investigation's over, everyone's leaving, and it's back to school for me. And back to Satan's beatings. It seems like he was starting to leave me alone after I met these people too…_

"Shouldn't you be heading to class?" I heard a voice say as they put their hands on the tripod I held.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Naru had walked up to me. "I was going to help you pack up everything," I explained as he took the equipment from me. "After all, you are still my boss for the next few minutes."

"I can handle it," Naru said as he turned towards the van. "Why don't you head back to class. I'd hate to see you plummet even further into the depths of dumb," Naru remarked as he set the tripod into the van.

"I'm already at the pit" I muttered to myself "See you later, asshole!" I yelled as a goodbye, running back into the school building.

**_Later_**

During lunch break, the main topics were the schoolhouse, the ghost rumors, and Kuroda.

"That's amazing, Kuroda! So the stories about the ghosts were true after all!" one girl talking to Kuroda said.

"I can't believe it collapsed," another girl commented.

I sighed. If only they knew…

"Cheer up Mai, we're the ones who should be sighing," Keiko said.

"Yeah, what the heck Mai? Kazuya's gone forever and you didn't think to ask for his address? We couldn't even find his phone number in the book," Michiru complained_. If only they knew how annoying Naru really was, they'd be thanking me for not asking for it._

"Attention Mai Taniyama, you have a telephone call. Please report to the front office immediately," the intercom said, freeing me from my friends' interrogation.

I went down to the office and picked up the phone line. "Hello?" I asked. Who on Earth would call me, regardless of being in school or not? _Satan can't call me literally, at least I think…_

"Hello Mai," a very familiar voice responded. The very last person I'd ever expect to be calling for me.

"naru" I greeted softly

"Your fee," he said.

"My what?"

"Your money for the hours you worked as my assistant. If you don't want it I could always give it to charity."

I held the phone away from my ear. _Geez, this guy's all business. I could use the money as well._

'I'll send the check out today so you should have it soon," Naru seemed to take my silence as a 'yes', "and I was curious if your school would allow you to have a job. If you're interested, I have a position open for you. It's just office work but it would be good experience for you."

Naru, what was he up to? Oh well. "Sure, that sounds great!" I answered. Never had I been offered a job. I don't exactly yell 'hire me!'

"Then come on down to my office to fill out some paperwork. It's in Shibuya, off Dogenzaka," Naru's words rang through my head as I ran towards his office. "And thanks for all your help, you were an excellent assistant. I'll be seeing you soon," he finished in my head as I reached the door of the office, emblazed with the office name.

_And that's the story of how I came to work at Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short, if you want to know how us industry insiders say it! Satan seems to be having fun.._

**I hope you like what I've written so far! And I'm thankful for the ideas people have been sending me!**


	4. the doll house part 1

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

You know when you want to do something, and you know it's a really bad idea, but you do it anyway? That would be me, back in April, agreeing to work for a major narcissist.

It's not that I don't like working, or that the work is really, really hard, and I'm glad to have said work, but if I have to deal with another client who merely had a bad electrical current somewhere or some bad pipes, I'll scream, rip my hair out, and perhaps let Satan out of my cursed body so he can reak havoc on the world… I'm that sick of it.

I mean, I may have only dealt with a single actual case, but I did end up reading through every parapsychology book I could get my hands on, meaning mainly the ones in the office. I couldn't gather much from them, though. Naru probably thought it would be stupid to have books on things he already knew in his office instead of at home or at a library. Regardless, I still could figure out the difference between the possibilities of a ghost versus a pipe. You'd think the unsuspecting citizens of Japan would have a good enough grasp on reality to realize it. Then again, I also think that most of the people in Japan (and possibly the world) and ignorant morons, but that's beside the point.

But we did get a woman to come in recently who was clearly distraught. It certainly didn't sound like just a few maintenance issues. Plus the air about her felt… disturbed.

We took the case, and I was thankful we did. She really needed out help.

**_July_**

**_Day 1_**

"Wow, what a cool house," I murmured as Naru and I stood at the gates of our clients house.

Naru simply gazed at the house and walked up to the house. I followed behind. Lin was going to park the van and do equipment checks while Naru and I talked to the clients. We were met at the door by the woman who came in to the office, our client.

"I'm sorry to drag you out here like this, it's quite a drive from the city," our client said, before introducing the other habitants of the house. "This is my sister-in-law Kana, and my niece, Ayumi," she indicated first to a woman with short hair and a little girl holding a… creepy looking doll "My brother's on a business trip overseas at the moment, so it's just us three girls it the house all by ourselves."

"_There's something strange about that house. The furniture will rattle all by itself, I'll hear knocking on the walls of rooms when I'm the only one home, and doors will constantly open and close all by themselves…"_

"As you can imagine we're pretty frightened," Noriko had told us.

"I'd like to have a word with your boss," Kana had said abruptly.

Naru had stepped forward and said, "My name is Kazuya Shibuya, and I own the company."

"Oh, I, uh…." Kana was stunned. Can't blame her, he's second youngest compared to me, you'd expect Lin to be the leader.

"So anyway," Kana had recovered quickly, "what are we looking at? Do you really believe we have a ghost?"

"We will explore all options in our investigation," Naru told her. _That was his version of being indecisive. The only thing it really did was piss people off._

"How's set-up of all the equipment looking?" Naru asked Lin, who sat in front of his computer checking just that.

"All audio and video feeds are transmitting clearly," Lin reported. He continued reporting the rest of the equipment statuses to Naru, but I ended up drowning him out. I hadn't gotten much rest lately with how much Satan like hurting me (does he have a life? Er, should I say afterlife?) So I didn't get actual sleep, just painful nightmares. So it's hard to focus on much.

"I wonder if we're dealing with a poltergeist?" I muttered out loud. I think Lin was surprised that I was so close, because he definitely reacted. "Judging from Noriko's description…"

"Ah, you're sounding less like an amateur each day, aren't you kiddo?" I heard from behind me, I noticed that Monk and Ayako were in the doorway behind me.

"Hey Monk," I greeted softly.

He saluted friendlily before responding with a "Hey."

"I see you're overdoing it again with all this fancy equipment."

"Let me see," Ayako bustled her way through to the monitors. After looking for less than a second she said, "Clearly the work of an earth spirit."

"It's definitely a human, the evidence speaks for itself," I argued. Then again, I'm no professional

"Well listen to you," Ayako said, probably pleased at how I asserted myself, unlike last time in April where I shrunk away. I was getting bolder, and I think she was starting to like how open I was.

"Tsk tsk," I began, "Now don't forget, nearly half of all poltergeist cases can be attributed to human interaction. Many of those cases deal with women under great deals of stress. This case in particular may have to do with the woman of the house not getting along with her sister-in-law."

"Like Noriko?" Monk questioned.

"I'd buy it. That Kana woman does seem to be a bit unpleasant," Ayako said.

"You're welcome," I responded.

"It's amateurish at best," Naru interrupted before I could begin on the theory holes myself. "In cases where a human is to blame for a poltergeist the culprit is usually a teenager or an adolescent child. Noriko is already in her twenties, so she doesn't meet the age requirement." I put my head down slightly, showing I understood, but that I was still listening.

"Now it is true that there are cases of women who are sensitive to the paranormal, so I'll consider that in my final decision," Naru continued on. I nodded, but had a defiant look in my eyes, I was very angry.

I ended up leaving to base to look around the house. Naru was starting to grate on my nerves.

"Hi there Mai," Noriko said, holding a tray. She was about to go up the stairs. I guess I was so lost in thought I didn't quite notice. "Perfect timing. I'm taking some lunch to Ayumi. Would you care to join me?" she asked.

Instantly I had a small smile on my face. "That sounds great!" We started up the stairs. "Ayumi is quite cute. If you had to say, does she take more after her father or her mother?"

"Hm," Noriko thought for a moment before responding, "Probably her mother."

That surprised me. "Really? Because she doesn't look like Kana at all…" I replied.

"Well that's because Kana isn't Ayumi's birth mother," Noriko explained. "My brother had her with his previous wife."

"Ah, I see" I mumbled "I'm sorry if I brought up something I had no right to hear about."

"Don't worry about it," Noriko assured me lightly.

We reached Ayumi's door and knocked before entering.

"Ayumi, lunch time," Noriko declared as she stepped in. "Mai's here too."

"Hey Ayumi," I cheerfully greeted from behind Noriko. "Hope you're hungry!"

She held out the doll's arm and said, "Nice to meet you," for both herself and the doll.

"Oh, hello, and you are?" I asked the doll.

"Minnie," replied Ayumi for the doll once more. I lightly grabbed the dolls hand and shook it, ignoring the pained burning in my palm and the top of my hand from my markings.

"Ayumi, your new book. Are you enjoying it?" Noriko asked.

Ayumi was smiling up at her, but then suddenly looked a little like she forgot something, and was scared. Ayumi now was very drawn back, and the air itself was… strange… disturbed would be the best word for it. I guess, or maybe very scared.

"What's wrong?" Noriko asked. The sudden shift didn't go unnoticed by Noriko either. Ayumi took a step back, and clutched the doll tight

"Why don't you have some food, kay?" I asked softly. Ayumi took another step back and clutched the doll tighter and turned away.

"I'm… not hungry," Ayumi said quietly. Noriko and I looked at her in silence and concern.

_I wonder what came over her so suddenly… maybe it had something to do with Minnie…_

**_Later_**

Later on that night, we gathered Kana, Noriko, and Ayumi and her doll (for now) together.

"Focus your eyes on the light," Naru commanded softly as a lamp whirred.

"Try to match your breathing to the glow of the light," Naru commanded again. "Nice and slow."

"Tonight, the vase will move, a small glass vase to be exact. It will be sitting on the table in front of you now."

Naru gave me a pointed look, and I flipped the light switch to off. All three of the other females snapped out of the trance, rather confused. _Can't blame them, it confused the hell out of me too…_

"That'll be all," Naru dismissed them, "please try to spend the rest of your evening as you would any normal night. Kana, the key?"

"Oh, right," Kana said as she sat up to give it to him. Her eyes snapped to the object in his hands.

A small glass vase. Everyone was looking at it.

I drew a chalk circle around the vase after it was only me and Naru in the room.

_So if a human is the cause of the poltergeist in this house, the vase will move. And if it doesn't move, then the cause is unknown._

**_Day 1_**

**_21:00_**

We were watching the monitors. Ayako and Monk were sitting by the door, supposedly 'ready for action' in case something happened and were right near the door, and I was getting extremely bored.

"Any movement?" Naru asked Lin.

"Not yet," Lin responded.

I started thinking about the case when the door opened loudly behind us. Kana stood there, panting, Offering no explanation, Kana simply ordered, "Come quickly."

We all ran up the stairs behind Kana up to Ayumi's room.

Kana shoved the door open, letting us see inside.

"I came up here to put Ayumi to bed when I found all the furniture like this," Kana explained.

"Everything's been moved away from the wall," I stated. It was true. Everything had been moved away, even the carpet, it was at a bit of a tilt now, as if the furniture just all moved to the side and slightly inward, but the walls had stayed in place. _How the hell did this happen? I doubt anyone under Satan can do this by themselves._

"What's going on? I thought you people were supposed to stop things like this from happening," Kana said. Well, more like yelled, actually. _She's extremely loud, how does someone manage to yell at that octave?_

"Are you sure the little girl didn't do this?" Ayako asked. Always the one to question everything. _And how would a little girl be able this anyway?_

"There's no way she's that strong!" I argued to Ayako. How could she think that was a respectable possibility? _Ayumi is, 8 or something! Is she that dumb!_

"You're right," Monk said. "The rug was moved as well. Even I don't have that kind of strength." Monk was easily one of the strongest of our group, aside from Lin. I doubted Lin could do it by himself either.

"I agree," said Naru. "If there's a human capable of this, I'd love to meet him." See? Not Lin.

"I was merely throwing the option out there," Ayako defended.

"It wasn't Ayumi," the little girl said, holding onto Noriko's hand.

"I never doubted you" I patted Ayumi's head. Then we heard a scream from downstairs.

Noriko.

Just peachy.

"What's wrong?!" I said as soon as I got to the living room where Noriko was. She didn't answer, but I could tell what it was soon enough.

_This time everything was upside-down! What is going on up here? Are the spirits that angry?_

"Even the carpet's been flipped over," I muttered as I turned part of the carpet up.

"Classic poltergeist activity," Monk said.

"It's a simple earth spirit, I'll have it driven out of the house by tomorrow morning. You'll see," Ayako said before turning and walking away. "Good night everyone."

"Where does she get her confidence?" I questioned. It was like she was hiding her true talent, but if that was true, why? Why hide it? Or is she forced to? I guess I'll find out later, maybe…

"What's up Naru?" Monk directed my attention towards my boss, who was looking at the room silently. "You look like you're on to something. Care to share with the rest of us?" _are you kidding, he's Naru, of course he will not tell us…_

Naru turned towards us and said, "Don't you think this response is a little quick? Paranormal phenomenon tend to have an aversion to outsiders. Usually any signs of a haunting back off in the first twenty four hours of an investigation."

I cocked my head in silent intrest.

"If you ever watch those TV shows that cover famous haunted houses, usually nothing substantial ever happens on camera, right? Normally the spirits will shy away from the visitor initially, but that's not the case here. I think this is full-on hatred," Monk explained. _What's there about us to hate? Were human, that's it. We can barely do half of what spirits do, so why get angry?_

"You thinking the same thing I am?" Naru asked Monk.

Monk nodded and responded, "Yeah," before explaining. "The house is aware of our presence, and it's quickly becoming angry with us, so if you coupled that with these increasingly brazen attempts to scare us off, we're dealing with a poltergeist that means business."

"We may have a hard time with this one," Naru's expression got dark as he said this. I cocked my head even more, just how hard will this be?

**_Day 2_**

_The next morning the vase in the family room hadn't moved an inch from the night before. Does that mean an actual spirit is haunting this house?_

I wrote this in my diary. I write about our cases in it. Monk surprised me by trying to steal the diary in my hand. "Hey!" I said, trying to get the diary back.

"So Mai has a diary, huh? Looks new," Monk commented. I reached up and stole it back out of his hands.

"It was a gift from Keiko and Michiru," I pouted.

"A gift? What for?" Monk asked.

"Um…" I was saved from answering by the audio of Ayako's exorcism coming over the speakers. I went over to Naru to watch at the monitors. It would seem I'm actually paying attention instead of slacking off and writing down in my diary.

"Well that should do it," Ayako said as she stepped out of the room she had done the exorcism in. "Sometimes I amaze even myself, haha!"

… just how many narcissists can one team have?

A lot, apparently. I wonder how they'll all get killed off? I guess one at a time slowly and painfully, and I bet that they'll never forgive themselves if they scream…. God I sound depressing…

**_Day 2_**

**_Night_**

"Naru, here's the temperature rundown for every room in the house," I gave Naru the clipboard. It was only us in base.

"Ayumi's room is few degrees cooler than the rest," Naru noticed then turned to type the data in.

_Naru taught me (more like I pestered him until he told me) that whenever a spirit is present the temperature drops._

"The house itself looks to be structurally sound, all the floors are flat, there's no sign of subterranean water lose, so the ground is solid," Naru told me.

"Do you think there is a ghost?" I asked.

"The chances of that are increasing," Naru said honestly.

"Lovely" I muttered sarcastically. My first meeting with a ghost and it hadn't killed me yet, that's a good thing right?

Our conversation was cut short by a scream, this time belonging to Kana. Me and Naru ran to the scene. The kitchen, to see the stove on fire.

"Kana! Get the hell away from there!" I yelled, rushing over the woman's aid, pulling her back a bit away from the heat.

"The flames just started shooting out of nowhere!" Kana told me.

"Just get back!" Naru ordered us, putting his arm in front of us to physically move us back. "Takigawa!" he yelled for Monk, who had at some point ran with us. I guess he heard the scream too. It was rather loud

Monk grabbed a fire extinguisher and pulled the key out, spraying down the fire.

Noriko ran in and held a crying Kana as I stood there stunned. A little while later, the fire was out, and I felt exhausted, the trance the fire had put me in was now gone along with most of my energy.

I looked over towards the window near the stove, where the fire had come from. I saw someone or something looking in, and then disappear. Just… vanish.

"Naru! Someone's out there!" I yelled before I could stop myself. Naru looked at me for a moment before rushing over to the window.

Naru looked through the window and looked back at me "Are you sure?" he questioned.

"Yes!" I replied "Someone was looking through the window! A little kid…"

I was sure I looked like a mess, but I wasn't the only one. All of us looked a little worse for wear.

This was going to be a long night.

**_Later_**

"Okay, Minnie, time for me to tuck you in," I could faintly hear Ayumi say through the door.

Naru, Monk, and I quietly peered through the slightly cracked door. We went to check on Ayumi, just in case either A-the ghost attacked, or B- Ayumi had caused the fire. I seriously doubted she did though... she didn't look like a future arsonist… than again, I wouldn't now

Ayumi was pulling a handkerchief over Minnie like a blanket when Noriko hit the light switch.

"Sweetie?" Noriko said before walking to Ayumi, who stood up when Noriko approached her. Noriko put her hands on Ayumi's shoulders. "Ayumi? Were you just outside?" Noriko asked the girl.

"No," Ayumi responded softly.

"Mai saw someone looking through the kitchen window," Noriko said. Oh if she only knew the half of it. "Now I'm not angry, I just want to know if it was you." _it was a boy..._ I thought softly… _and it was too tall to be her…_

"I wasn't," Ayumi told her.

"Are you telling the truth?" Noriko shook the girl slightly. Ayumi took a few steps away from Noriko.

"I am," Ayumi said with a scared voice. Minnie was now fully gone to my senses. "Ayumi didn't do it!" A loud knock was heard from the ceiling. The room started shaking and more loud knocking sounds accompanied it.

I cocked my head, what was going on now?

"Ayumi didn't do it," Ayumi said before another knock was heard, moving the bookcase. "Stop it!" The bookcase started fall over, right where Noriko was kneeling.

"Noriko!" I tried to move towards her to help her, but Naru wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back. I struggled for a moment, but I was defenseless against a guy with double my strength, and could only watch in horror.

"Aunt Nori!" I could hear Ayumi cry.

"Oh no," I gasped.

Noriko turned around just in time to see the bookcase crash down on her.

**_Day 3_**

"So what's that, two huge failures in a row?" Monk asked Ayako, who was still in her priestess clothing. It had just turned midnight.

"I guess I'm just a useless waste of space, then," Ayako huffed before walking out of base. _You just realized that? Your rude awakening took long enough._

"So, yesterday, what was that?" I asked.

"It seemed to react to the little girl's shouting," Monk pointed out. "And it could be tied to the image of the child you mentioned seeing in the kitchen." _Maybe… just maybe…_

"I believe that Ayumi is behind this," Naru stated. _She's not strong enough for that._

"I thought the suggestion experiment you conducted proved the culprit wasn't human. How much confidence do you put in that test of yours?" Monk questioned. Not enough… apparently...

"One hundred percent," Naru told him.

"Is it possible the suggestion failed?" Monk asked.

"There's no way."

_Didn't he just contradict himself? Maybe he just needs some sleep… We all do. Even me._

"You know you've been wrong before," Monk glared. _Oh, low blow. Leave those for Naru's good days._

"Kazuya," Lin interrupted. "The temperature in Ayumi's room is dropping again."

"Lin, more sound!" Naru ordered.

Lin put the sound up, and we could clearly hear rattling. Very loud rattling.

"That is intense," Monk commented.

"Incredible," Naru said

I cocked my head in question. Her room was empty, so what?

"The temperature," Naru answered, "It's dropping unbelievably fast.

"what caused that?" I asked him.

"It's not Ayumi, that's for sure. No, no human could pull this off," Naru stated.

_It's weird, but…_

_It's almost as if the ghost purposely did that to disprove Naru… I wonder why…._

**_Later_**

"I take it Ayumi likes to keep to herself, huh?" I asked Noriko. Ayumi was playing with Minnie Noriko was watching her and I had decided to join her...

"Well normally she's a lot more outgoing and cheerful then how you've been seeing her. She's been acting strange ever since her dad got remarried a few weeks ago," Noriko told me.

"I see," I replied, maybe she didn't like kana all that much.

Kana came in with a tray of juice and cookies. "Ayumi," she said, "it's time for your snack." She walked to the little coffee table in Noriko's room and set the tray down in front of Ayumi. "It's nice to have someone to play with, don't you think so?" Ayumi didn't answer. "I really wish you would talk to me more. Why don't you have a cookie?" Still no response. Ayumi didn't even look at Kana. 'Don't you want one?" Ayumi didn't look up. Kana frowned. "Fine. Suit yourself," Kana said before standing up and walking out, closing the door loudly behind her.

I sighed, Kana didn't seem to be the understanding type. "It's okay sweetie," Noriko said to Ayumi before sitting beside her on the ground next to the table. "Is it alright with you if your Aunt Noriko had a cookie?" she asked before reaching over and grabbing one.

No!" Ayumi yelled and slapped the cookie out of her hand. "Those cookies are no good!" she yelled, shocking both me and Noriko. "Minnie told me so. She said all the snacks are poisoned. Minnie told me my new mom is a witch. She said she made dad her servant with her magic. She said Ayumi and Aunt Nori are in the way so she's trying to poison us," Ayumi finished and clutched Minnie.

_This is getting weirder. _I looked at the doll._ The doll told her all that?_

Correction. This was going to be a long investigation.

**_Later_**

I ran off to find Naru to tell him about Ayumi and the doll. I found him in the room we had the glass vase experiment. He was looking at the chalk circle on the table.

"Naru?" I asked softly, he turned

"Mai. Have you seen the glass vase that was in here?" Naru asked me.

I shook my head, and then cocked it to the side in question

"It was. Originally it was sitting on this table, in the middle of our little circle. However, it's no longer here," Naru explained.

"That's weird," I said, temporally forgetting what it was I was going to tell Naru. "Have you looked around?"

_That was a stupid question on my part that was my fault._

"No Mai, I was completely engrossed in standing around when a ghost could be around haunting a house and suddenly, one of our experiments disappeared. Of course I was looking, idiot."

_Obvious answer, man I'm and idiot at times._

"I'll help you," I said before I actually thought it through. I had noticed that it was on a bookshelf, but I didn't point it out.

"Hey Naru," I asked softly, before being shut off by the door slamming shut. Naru looked over at me, then the door. "What was that?"

"Are we locked in?" I asked.

"Yes," Naru said after a moment before trying to pull the door open. I put my hands on the handle as well and pulled. It was started to get a bit cold. _Damn, just my luck._

I noticed the vase shaking and grabbed naru and yanked us down before it hit the wall.

After a few moments Naru stood up and pulled me to my feet, being careful of the glass around us. I reached over and tried the door.

It opened easily.

"It's toying with us," Naru stated.

"Come again?" I asked.

"It knows we're here and that we're trying to figure out what it is, so it's playing with us. It's under the assumption that we can't find it," Naru explained.

"So this ghost, whatever it is, is as narcissist and proud as you are?" I asked. Naru frowned further but nodded.

"How did you know the vase was there?" Naru asked.

"I noticed it on the shelf" I muttered softly.

I was interrupted from explaining further by a book slamming on the ground. I turned, sending my senses over there. I felt even colder than before. More books and other objects started slamming around us. We turned to leave, and right on cue, the door slammed closed again.

_Great. Just great. Why is it life seems to love to mess with me? Oh wait, that answers obvious…_

Naru tried the door. When it didn't work, he pulled me closer before setting me between the wall and himself (after much struggle on my part though). Things flew around, and occasionally one would hit close to us. But for some reason, none hit us.

It only lasted about a minute or two, and it felt like hours, but the activity eventually stopped. I was shaking, I knew it, and I think Naru noticed too. No sooner had it been quiet for more than a few seconds than Naru had grabbed my wrist, pulled open the door, and got out of that room.

**_Moments later_**

We ended up in the kitchen. Without even thinking about it, I started going through the cabinets. I figured I might as well make tea, I like the taste and it helped keep me calm. Naru didn't interrupt me, instead opting to watch me.

After a while I had two cups of chamomile tea, one for Naru and one for myself.

Mine was to calm myself down.

Naru's was a habit in the making.

I gave Naru his cup then went over to the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs at the table's head. Naru followed me in and sat in the chair to the right of the head next to me. He watched me for a second. I sipped my tea and took some deep breaths. He sipped his tea carefully after a moment.

We sat there sipping tea in silence for a good while, and I was starting to get bored, but didn't say anything.

"Thank you," I muttered as I looked at the tea leaves in the empty cup. I hated to thank others; it means they had to help me in the first place.

"I never knew you to be a tea drinker," Naru replied, ignoring my thanks.

Typical asshole Naru. "Hm, my mom used to work tea shop, and she loved it. Occasionally I'd go to work with her or go there after school. I learned a lot about tea making. I guess it's a habit now." I wasn't going to tell him that I learned a lot about the tea by making it for my mom as she got sicker and sicker years ago. It's just plain embarrassing, and I'd have to explain why she was, not something I plan on doing

"Hm," was Naru's only response, and he sipped some more tea.

"Do you drink a lot of tea?" I asked.

"Not lately," Naru responded. _Good one, answer without answering. A rare skill many don't know. I didn't think he knew it, guess I need to expect the unexpected._

After a few more moments had past, Naru stood up. "Come on, you should go to bed," Naru said, extending a hand towards me. I turned my attention towards it before gingerly taking it and standing up. I let go after I was sure I could stand up and walk on my own, and Naru took my cup from me. I followed him wordlessly as he set the cups in the sink, quickly washing out the tea leaves. "It'll stain if we leave them with the leaves in there, but it should be fine like this," Naru answered my silent question.

He then walked us over to Noriko's guest room that I was staying in. He stopped at the door, and I walked in. I nodded one last thank you.

"Sleep. We can't have you even more incompetent than as is," Naru stated. Typical. He really couldn't do anything without insulting my intelligence, could he? I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly, before going back into my room to fall asleep to the same old nightmare…

**_Morning_**

I woke up in Noriko's guest room, sweating and bruised. I stretched after a moment, starting to feel a little awake. I looked over at the door. A guy was standing there. It took me a moment but I recognized him as the one I saw back in April.

"Who the hell are are you?" I asked, then seeing the troubled expression on his face, asked "What's wrong?"

The guy looked like he was talking, but I couldn't hear anything.

"What? I can't hear you! Speak up ya nimrod!"

He talked with no words again, and I heard him a second after he finished.

"_Ayumi's in great danger,"_ he said, his voice, which sounded a lot like Naru, echoed.

"Isn't everyone?" I muttered crossly to myself, before asking "and what the hell am I supposed to do about it? It's not like any of us can be there for her 24-7! Answer me damnit!" _don't fear for her, it will only make everyone else around you miserable. Don't sign a 7 year olds death warrant!_

I woke up with a start, and after a quick glance around the room, I knew that the Naru-look-alike had done his disappearing act once again.

'That was weird…' I thought to myself. Then I realized something. I felt my cheeks burn and my eyes widen slightly.

_I don't believe myself. Here I am dreaming about that guy AGAIN! What's wrong with me? I'm truly an idiot!_

"I forgot about Minnie!" I muttered before hastily getting redressed and rushing off.

Man, Naru was going to kill me for not telling him earlier.

Worse yet, Naru's smart enough to hide the body and leave no evidence. He'll make Satan's work easy for him.

I found Naru in base and quickly relayed the whole story.

"Minnie's the one who told her that?" Naru asked me after I finished. "So she's talking with the doll." I nodded, but said nothing in reply.

_It was definitely a dream. That's it, that Naru-look-alike is going to get an interrogation if he ever shows his face around me again!_

**_Later_**

**_Naru's P.O.V_**

I waited for Noriko to bring the doll. After what Mai told me, my suspicions of the doll had increased.

Mai.

I felt as if I was being watched by her no matter what was happening, I felt her watchful eye. She also was not afraid to fight with me, and even though she was stuck in a room with a severe amount of poltergeist activity going on, she hadn't screamed. She still hasn't worn any short sleeves or taken her gloves off; I still think there are scars of some kind there.

She can also make a damn good cup of tea.

I hadn't gotten any closer to figuring her out though. Maybe I should ask for Monk and Ayako's help? No, Ayako would make too much of a ruckus and we'd get nowhere. Maybe just Monk?

Noriko chose that moment to come in carrying the blonde doll into base, interrupting my thoughts.

"This is Ayumi's doll, Minnie," Noriko said as she handed the doll to me. "My brother bought it for her as a present right before they moved into the house with me."

I examined the doll fully. It was creepy of its own, truthfully. But why was the spirit possessing it? What if it isn't just the doll?

"Did Ayumi's behavior change before she got the doll, or after?" I questioned Noriko.

"Um, it was after," Noriko said after thinking for a moment.

The door opened to show a panting Ayumi. "Let go of her!" she demanded and ran up to me trying to get the doll. "I'll save you Minnie!" I pulled the doll up out of her reach. Ayumi clutched my shirt. "Give her back!" she demanded again.

I sank down to her level and asked, "Now Ayumi, I understand you're able to talk to Minnie." I left that hanging in the air. It was up to Ayumi to respond. Ayumi looked at me for a second before looking down at the floor; I'm guessing that's a yes. Then Ayumi took the doll and turned.

"Don't you ever touch her again!" she yelled as she ran off.

"Ayumi!" Noriko shouted after her.

_Ayumi's rather possessive of that doll._

Then a thought crossed my mind.

_Perhaps it's the doll that is possessive of Ayumi._

**_That night_**

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

Noriko and I snuck into where Ayumi laid in bed. Naru told us to get the doll away from Ayumi, but she wouldn't let us take her again. So we waited until she was asleep to take the thing.

Right now the doll was simply that, a doll. I gently grabbed it from Ayumi's side without the girl noticing. "Sorry, kid. I just need to borrow your doll for a bit, you might not even miss her," I mumbled to the sleeping girl. I turned my head towards Noriko and we nodded before sneaking back out to base.

I was told to place the doll in Ayumi's room while Noriko went to bed. We were going to watch the doll and see if anything happened. So basically, another experiment.

"So that's Minnie, huh? Surprised the little squirt let you take her," Monk commented, looking at the monitors.

"I doubt she'll even notice she's gone" I replied, leaving the answer hanging in the air for him to realize.

I looked back to the monitors. "She sure is creepy-looking isn't she?" I asked Monk. I don't know much about dolls (never really played with them) but I knew it was ugly.

"I guess," Monk commented. I guess he was used to creepy, working as a monk probably made him immune to creepy. "Archeologists believe that dolls were originally meant as vessels for trapping people's souls. Being soulless and empty on the inside, a spirit could possess them more easily," Monk told me. _Ain't that just lovely? Thanks for the lesson I really didn't want to know at a time like this. _

"So Naru, are we just going to watch this doll all night?" Monk asked, leaning over Naru's chair. Naru didn't answer, instead standing up suddenly.

I cocked my head, what was wrong with him? Then I noticed that Naru was glaring at the monitor screen, and turned my head to see a doll face down on the bed.

I glared as well; I know I sure as hell put that thing sitting up.

"Minnie… No way. She was sitting just a minute ago," I growled "did someone move her?"

I got a cold chill, and couldn't move. I heard a little kid's voice talking in my ear. _"Hello miss."_

Os shit, this could mean one of two things. One, I just went over the deep end (which was quite possible), or two, I'm hearing the ghost. I'm guessing (hoping) its number 2.

I tried to say something to Naru, but I couldn't. I was completely frozen, looking at a screen I shouldn't be able to see. The doll started to move down the bed on the screen like she was being pulled at her feet.

_I see you're scared._ The voice chuckled._ Your teammates aren't much better._

_Shut the hell up! _I mentally screamed back_ there better than your lame attempts! If you're going to attack, why wait? Or are you just that weak?_

I should have known better than to egg of a sprirt, but oh well.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye what y teammates expressions are. Monk was definitely shocked, and definitely in disbelief. Lin was unreadable, but if I had to say, he was either calculating or glaring.

And Naru? He was watching the screen intensely, waiting for the next move.

_You should be scared, miss._

_Of what? A dumbass doll that can talk? pathetic_

The doll's head disconnected from her body.

_I found you._

_So did Satan, you're not better than him. And he's weak_

The doll's head started moving away from its body across the bed, and fell on the floor. It started rolling towards one of the cameras.

_I see you._

The doll's head hit the camera screen.

_And I'm watching you._

_Whoop te do. Get an afterlife already._

The voice went away, and I unfroze and clutched my head. There was a major migraine taking over.

Monk was completely shocked.

Lin was somewhat unfazed.

Naru glared at the screen.

The doll looked back emotionlessly. The image was clear to the rest of them.

We were being watched. Then again, when aren't we? This case seems to only be getting harder, I wonder when everyone will try to get out of it?

**If you wondering why Mai seems nicer, it's because she is. I decided that during the time in-between cases she would have spent enough time with the others to gain some respect for them, enough to try to play nice. She's starting to change, which is an important part of the story as they become a sort of family. Read and review! JA NE!**


	5. the doll house part 2

**I just realized, I've never put up my disclaimer. Well, here it is. If I owned Ghost hunt do you think I'd be sitting here at the computer trying to make up something won't even compare to the original? It's obvious I have never owned Ghost hunt, and I never will. Read on.**

_What if, is a strange thing, with many possibilities._

_S.P.R. is formed; friends become a 'family'_

_Mai falls for naru, but the 'what if' is what complicates this tale_

_'What if', Mai was cursed, by Satan?_

_Her arms, legs, hands, feet, neck, and so on and so forth would be covered in red, ancient Chinese marking, stating that she was his when she died._

_A bet was placed after her parents, whom died at Satins hand, for Satan's enjoyment. The bet was simple 'show kindness to no one until the age of 18, and you may choose the way you die. Fail, and you and the people you were friendly too would die in the worst ways imaginable._

_It's said that there is no escape for sinner from Satan, so what if it was the same for Mai?_

_'What if', to protect everyone from herself, she was mostly mute, and only spoke when necessary, or for ghost stories with two girls who didn't mind her coarse, silent attitude?_

_And slowly, Lin, Ayako, Masako, John, Monk, Madoka, yasu, and even Naru slowly broke down her every defense, showing that she can be herself around them without fear?_

_What if is dangerous and wondrous, which way will it become in this twisted tale?_

**_Day 3_**

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

The doll looked back emotionlessly. The image was clear to the rest of them.

We were being watched.

After a few seconds of the doll's glass eye staring us down on the monitor the camera shut off. I raised my head.

"We lost picture," Naru stated while Lin sat up to see if it was the monitor. Monk ran out the door wordlessly to check on the camera-not to mention the doll.

After a moment of hesitation, I yelled "Wait! Don't go in there, who knows what the hell that thing is capable of!" and ran to catch up to him_. I know I didn't, maybe naru knew, I'll have to ask him later._

"No way," I heard Monk say as I was on the landing of the stairs. This only made me run faster up the steps. I came into the room to find the doll sitting just like before on the bed.

"How the hell?" I muttered softly

"Yeah, it somehow moved back to its original position," Monk agreed, but he seemed unhappy about my cursing. Oh well, get used to it; you should be by now anyway.

"This is common," Naru said from behind us. We turned around to face him. "Spirits don't care for mechanical devices," Naru said as if that explained everything. He then walked over and picked up the doll and walked out. _Well aren't you just one big bag of helpful…_ _damn you naru, get a heart or a life, you seem to have neither…_Thankfully I already knew that spirits often caused malfunction to mechanical devices due to their own electromagnetic waves.

After a moment, Monk and I followed Naru back to the base only to be dismissed to get some sleep. I obliged, my Migraine was seriously starting to mess with me, and my marks were cutting into my body again… in short, I'm so tired and in pain I'll start complaining like a elderly man with back pains if I don't get some damned sleep soon…

**_Day 4_**

_The others are asking what to do know. Ain't it obvious? Whose bright idea was it to keep that doll near Ayumi in the damned first place?_

My mission was to get the doll back to base and away from Ayumi, who had stolen her doll back who-knows-when (about time they realized it was a dumb idea to keep the two of them together!). I was about to knock on Ayumi's door when I got interrupted by a voice.

"This house is teeming with evil witches," a young voice said. It sounded strange, like it had been recorded and played back.

"Even Aunt Nori?" I heard Ayumi ask.

"Auntie is one of the witch's minions," the voice replied. I put my ear to the door to try to hear better. _Who the hell is that?_

"But I don't want Auntie to go, she's my friend," Ayumi responded.

"No," the voice ordered, "I'll get rid of her for you, along with the rest of them. You just need to do exactly as I say, okay?" The voice didn't leave any room for argument. _I really don't like that voice…_

I opened the door after that, worried about who Ayumi was in the room with. I just found her and Minnie sitting and facing each other. "Ayumi?" I said. "Did I just hear you talking with someone?"

"Yeah," Ayumi said, pointing to her doll.

"Minnie?" I asked.

"There were some other kids too," Ayumi pointed to the door I just came in through. "Huh, I guess they're gone."

_I know I closed that door when I came in. what is 'Minnie' playing at?_ I realized with a chill. "Well I guess they don't like me too much, do they?" I said. "So tell me Ayumi, how long have these friends of yours been coming over?"

"I don't know," Ayumi answered. _Another good dodge Ayumi, had this not been important, I would congratulate you for your tactics._

"Would you say Minnie's friends with these other kids too?" I asked.

"Minnie's the one that brought them here," Ayumi answered ominously. I looked over at the doll.

It almost seemed like it was watching me.

And then I remembered. The voice from earlier, the one that Ayumi said was Minnie was the same one I heard in my head when Minnie was moving on her own. Maybe I should talk to Naru about all of this...

**_Later_**

"So what's the story on this house? Is it notorious around the neighborhood for being haunted?" Ayako questioned.

"It's the doll we should be concerned with, not the house," Monk said. "You said the kid claimed that it was Minnie that brought over the invisible friends, didn't she?"

I nodded, I was a little too shaken to speak.

Monk looked over to Naru. "Can a spirit possess a doll like that and communicate through it?" he asked.

Naru stood up so he could talk to Monk properly. "It is a definite possibility. Do you want to try and get rid of it?" Naru asked.

Monk smirked and replied, "I'd like nothing more than to take down that doll."

And then he left to get ready.

_While Monk was preforming his exorcism, Ayako stayed by Ayumi's side while she slept. If this doesn't work I may just do something I'll regret._

I was in base, watching the monitors. Suddenly, I heard a scream.

It was Noriko. _I was silently thankful that it wasn't Kana, but I wouldn't admit that out loud._

I ran to where I thought she was. "Noriko, what happened to you?!" I asked as I found her on the ground in a hallway.

"My leg," she gasped out, clearly in a lot of pain. Monk, who had been nearby and ran with me to Noriko's aid, bent down to examine her leg.

"Your ankle is dislocated," Monk told her.

"It felt like someone really strong was pulling me by my leg," Noriko told us. _If someone makes a horrible pun now, I won't be able to justify my actions..._

I noticed the bruise on her leg, it was a hand, or better yet a child's/doll's hand. I cursed softly, why the hell did it attack Noriko? She didn't do anything; she wouldn't have the guts to hurt Ayumi in any way! This is getting more and more pathetic!

It was then that Naru decided to ask Ayumi a few questions. We both went to Noriko's bedroom, and I sat next to Ayumi while Naru stood in front of us both. _He seems to be trying to intimidate her, its working on her, but I'm not particularly impressed._

"Where is Minnie?" Ayumi asked first thing. Big shocker there.

"Minnie's with me for a little while," Naru told her. "Now I need you to tell me all there is to know about your new friends, okay?" _wow, the nice card. Maybe he likes kids more than he lets on?_

"Give her back to me!" Ayumi ignored him. _Not a good idea kid, he doesn't like being argued with_

"How long ago did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked another question, also ignoring her demands. _I think this will blow up in 3, 2, 1, and BOOM!_

"Give her back! You can't take my friend away from me!" Ayumi demanded. Naru sent her a glare that, while I had gotten used to it, it scared her.

"Listen, Ayumi," Naru said coldly, "Your Aunt Noriko's hurt, and Minnie did it to her, now talk!" _never mind, the nice card just got torn to shreds… asshole._

I glared and even gave an animal like growl, that was crude, even for him!

"I'm just doing my job, Mai," Naru stated simply, but not as cold as he was before. I never stopped growling. Maybe it's part of the devil's contract, but I was feeling more feral by the minute.

"I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried out, interrupting our argument. We both turned our attentions to her. "I'm sorry! Minnie said I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. She said she'd hurt me if I made any friends! I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried, sniffling through her explanation. _Damn! What the hell has this doll been saying to her!?_

"When did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked softly.

"When we moved into this house," Minnie told us before explaining further. Apparently, Minnie didn't talk before that, but that night Minnie started talking to her, saying how Kana was an evil witch and her dad was her servant, and that they were plotting to kill her. However, Aunt Noriko sometimes was, and sometimes wasn't on either side. Minnie kept changing that fact, which often scaring her about how easily Kana could put Noriko under a spell. Minnie promised to protect her, as long as Ayumi wasn't nice to anyone. "Whenever I would forget her promise and play with Aunt Nori, Minnie would break things and mess up the bedroom as punishment. She'd always say 'That's what you get for breaking your promise. Don't try me again,'" Ayumi concluded. _This doll has got to go, or at least 'Minnie' itself does_.

I gave her a small half-hug, that kid has already been through so much, I doubt she'll ever forget all that's happened.

"And was it around this time Minnie started inviting other friends to the house as well?" Naru asked a now-not-crying Ayumi. _Well, at least he's playing another kind card…_

Ayumi nodded. "Lots of 'em. Kids just like me," Ayumi said. "Minnie says that her friends were her servants." _This may sound pathetic, but I feel sorry for Minnie's 'friends'. Having been preparing myself to be slave to Satan for years, I know it sucks big time to be an underling._

We all ended up back at base after that, looking at the crazy psycho-doll as she sat in the chair.

"She's definitely causing this. Makes me wonder if the previous owner died of an illness and possessed the doll," Monk stated. _No, I think the father would have heard about it being the doll of a dead child's and decided not to buy it if he had… it has to be something else._

"That thing gives me the creeps," Ayako said as she shivered slightly from across the room, "This is exactly why I've hated dolls since I was a child." _Oh god, I share a trait with Ayako, I think I may scream…_

"Minnie is not the one behind this," Naru stated. _Are you out of your big head?_

"How could you say that after what we've seen?" Monk asked. _Oh great, now I'm starting to agree with monk, I'm getting way to close…_

"Because the doll is only being used as a vessel," he answered. "There's a restless spirit that's possessing this house. Until we can find a way to discover its true identity, Ayumi is in grave danger."

_Looks like naru and the Naru-look-alike thinks on the same lines, and I still think the same thing. What the hell can I do!? Nothing, so why should I try!?_

"Mai!" I heard from outside the door. I ran out and found Kana and Noriko staring at the wall next to the door.

"Look," Noriko pointed to the wall.

On it read 'Bad girls will be punished' in a child's handwriting, written with a crayon.

_Bad girls? Could that be referring to Ayumi?! Minnie's seems to mean business, I just hope that Ayumi figures a way out of all of this._

"Ayumi just confessed to me something that she was warned to never speak of," Naru said, walking out to the hallway. "Minnie believes that Ayumi has betrayed her." He turned towards me. "Mai, I want you to be with Ayumi at all times."

"About damn time someone realized we need to watch her" I grumbled, and upon the shocked looks I growled "what? Minnie's been bad news the whole time and you just _NOW_ realize she a danger to Ayumi? You're supposed to be investigators, and an amateur seems to see what you don't. I'll watch over the kid, I'm not much help doing anything else." _These people really are idiots…_

**_Day 5_**

Noriko and I sat together on the porch while Ayumi played in the yard right in front of us. Ayumi wanted to play after lunch and Noriko took her outside, and I of course followed along. I was taking this chance to catch up on writing the case out in my diary.

"Don't worry, they're erasing that stuff off the wall," I whispered to Noriko.

The others had ditched the job of Ayako. I could practically hear her complaining, saying, "I don't see why I have to be the one to do this…" to no one_. Sounds about right for her, I wouldn't have minded doing it myself. But I wasn't offering anything to naru, I'm still pissed he just realized that this was serious._

_It's funny, Naru was the one that thought Ayumi shouldn't see what's written on the wall. Does he actually have a sweet side? Damn, I think I should be a comedian, that's gold. If your still confused, you need lessons on the art of sarcasm._

"Get serious Mai, no way," I said to myself. "Not in a million years."

"Huh?" shit, Noriko heard me. This will be interesting.

"Nothing! Just talking to myself. I tend to do that sometimes," actually, I just started doing that lately, I blame Paranoia and S.P.R.

_Meanwhile, Monk was busy himself._

I could feel Monk holding Minnie in what I was guessing was a shoe box, and was chanting again, put the lid over Minnie, then threw the thing unceremoniously into the fire.

_After that, Minnie was destroyed._

"You've been a big help, thank you," Noriko said.

"No prob, I know how hard this has been on you, especially with Kana leaving…" It was true, we found a note from her this morning, saying, and I quote, _I can't stay another second in this creepy house_. I hope I don't end up as bitter at the world as she does if I live past the age of 18

"I really appreciate it," Noriko thanked again.

Ayumi then ran up to Noriko. "Auntie? How's your foot doing?" she asked. She was more outgoing and happy now, apparently like how she was before they moved according to Noriko.

"Much better. Actually once you started being friends with me again the pain went away," Noriko happily told her, moving her wrapped foot to demonstrate.

"That's great!" Ayumi smiled. "I'm going to pick some flowers for you." She turned to me. "Do you want to come with me?" _I nodded; I used to love picking flowers for my mother when I was her age, whenever she could go outside that is. She was always so sick.._

"Sounds fun," I said, getting up from the edge of the porch. We walked over to the flowers in the garden "What kind should we get?" I asked her. _I'm not good at telling pretty things apart from ugly shit. Its another fault of mine._

"The prettiest ones!" Ayumi responded like a typical little girl. "Like that one," she pointed to one of the flowers. Ayumi reached over to pick it.

Suddenly, Ayumi gasped. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"My hands are stuck!" Ayumi cried, trying to move her hands away. I immediately reached down and started throwing any plant she might have her hands caught on out of the way, then pulled her hands out.

_The hell!? There's nothing here!_

Next thing I noticed was Ayumi running off to another part of the yard. _Shit! Where is she going!_

"Mai, go get her!" I heard Noriko yell. I turn to face her. "She's running right towards the pond!" _I hope she can swim, or she's both screwed…_

I ran and followed her. We came a little closer to where Monk was.

"Minnie I'm so sorry!" Ayumi yelled behind her, as if talking to someone who was chasing her. That brought me back to the bigger matter on hand. I hadn't stopped running, but I hadn't been able to catch up with Ayumi yet. "Don't be mad at me! Please don't be mad at me!" Ayumi yelled again. _Can she see something I can't?_

"Minnie?!" I questioned. Did Ayumi somehow know who was attacking her?

We reached the pond. "Please don't hurt me," Ayumi said. She had stopped and now was fully turned around, and slowly stepping towards the water. "I'm sorry!" Ayumi yelled. She put her foot at the edge of the pond, which was surrounded by rocks, then her foot slipped out like she had had her foot pulled from underneath her, causing her to fall backwards straight into the water. _Oh shit! I can't swim! Looks like about learn..._

"AYUMI!" I yelled as she screamed and fell in the pond. She disappeared under the water. I quickly discarded my shoes as I ran and jumped in after her. Ayumi bobbed her head above the water, clearly struggling, and sunk back down. _Aw, hell! Let's hope I have good enough instincts!_

"Ayumi!" I yelled again.

I could hear a muffled 'Help' from under the water, she was in big trouble now. I took the chance and dived under the water, full well aware I might not be able to find my way up to the surface again.

I could hardly hear Noriko scream, "Ayumi!" as I went down.

**_A few minutes later_**

Ayumi cried into Noriko's shoulder. "Auntie," she cried. She was soaked.

"Ayumi, it's okay, you're safe now," Noriko comforted her. I somehow managed to get Ayumi and myself out of that pond, but now we were both soaked. I was just glad she was alive.

With a slight chill, I felt the need to look over the water.

I've never been an outdoors person. My mother got sick very easily, and I did as well as a child, so I never asked to learn how to swim. My dad didn't know either, so I just left it at that. The only thing Satan could swim in is lava, so I doubted he'd be any help. I hoped I'd never need to go underwater again… it was terrifying.

_Is this the punishment Minnie threatened her with?_

Something glowed on the water's surface, then disappeared. Despite obvious logic, I moved closer to the pond by a step, wary of the slippery rocks.

It appeared again. It took me a second to recognize it, but it was the doll I had seen in the video before.

Minnie. But…. She should still be with Monk! Even if she didn't burn!

She disappeared again.

That confirms that this was Minnie's doing. She's able to drag people under water and almost killed Ayumi.

Seems like Minnie had decided to attack.

I knew I shouldn't have riled her.

**_That evening_**

Later that evening we had put Ayumi to sleep after cleaning her up and getting her dry. She was exhausted from today's excitement.

"I've decided to move us out of the house," Noriko said, sitting on the bed and looking at Ayumi.

I nodded, made sense that did.

"You should know that there are some poltergeists that will follow you regardless of where you may be," Naru advised her.

"Really?" Noriko said in disbelief. "Is there anything at all we can do?" Noriko was definitely desperate to keep Ayumi safe and sound. That's a good trait in a parent though.

"There's no need to panic," Naru said, "I've been doing extensive research on the previous owners of this house. Before you and your family moved in, a family by the name of Watanabe lived here. They only lived her for three years and left due to a job transfer."

"So they weren't driven out of the house by the haunting?" I questioned softly. _Why weren't they?_

"That's right," Naru said before continuing, "But before them was the Nogi family. They had a nine-year-old girl who died of an illness here. Before them were the Nonama's. Three of their children died here within a six-month span."

"Three?" I muttered, holy hell! That would be horrible!

"Two boys and one girl. Ten, eight, and seven-years-old. Two of them were killed in a car accident and the other died of an illness. And before them was the Murakami family who had a fifteen-year-old daughter but she's still alive today. _Why her?_

"If we go back even further we have the Tanaguchi family. During a family visit their ten-year-old niece also died of an illness here in the house. Before that the Ikida family lost their youngest son at seven-years-old, and before them the Tachibana family lost their eight-year-old daughter, so there's a definite pattern here. That's all I could find," Naru told us. _No shit Sherlock, anyone could see that!_

"Young kids that lived here, died here?" I confirmed. Seems this spirit is really sick, weather from loneliness or just depression I'm not sure I want to find out.

Noriko started sobbing into her hands. "What am I gonna do?" she cried.

"We're going to call in some more specialists. If you still want to leave the house I highly recommend you wait until they arrive," Naru told her. He soon left the room with Monk, leaving me with Noriko.

After a while Noriko calmed down and I went down to base. Minnie sat in the computer chair while Monk and Naru argued. "It's got to have something to do with this doll!" said Monk, "I've seen this type of case before! A girl who loves a certain doll passes away, then her spirit takes control of the doll and manipulates it to her will." _You've dealt with this type of hell before? Damn, how do you now have post traumatic stress disorder?_

"I told you before, the doll itself is not the problem," Naru said, turning to look at the doll. "Minnie is being used as a vessel for a sight-bound spirit inside the house." _Makes more sense than Monks idea. What kid would want to kill other kids?_

"I just don't buy it," Monk sighed. Then the doorbell rang, ending the discussion for the moment.

I went to go answer it, and who do I find? John and Masako.

"Hey Mai it's good to see you again," John greeted.

I nodded them in greeting, (something they'd long gotten used to. Greetings aren't my thing) and lead them inside.

_This is John Brown, a priest from Australia, and Masako Hara, a celebrity medium. They joined us to aid in the investigation. No one knows of the curse I contain, and hopefully they never will._

"What is this?" I heard from behind us as John and I started down the hall. Masako had stopped just steps from the entrance. John and I turned back to help her, she seemed sick. "It's horrible; I've never been in such a disturbed house before." The next thing I know, I'm helping carry her to the base.

"It's okay, why don't you sit down now," I told her as we entered, John opening the door for us.

Ayako rushed over to help. "Masako, what happened?" she questioned.

Naru then stepped up to us, probably curious too. Masako looked up at who approached, then over-dramatically fell from my arms onto Naru's chest.

…_HEY, what does she think she's doing? THE HELL? Looks like naru's got a girlfriend… wait, why does that make me feel jealous? _

Naru simply looked down at the girl holding onto his shirt, not even moving his arms in the slightest. "Are you okay?"* he questioned politely.

"This house is surrounded by the spirits of children. They're all suffering terribly," Masako stated, getting the attentions of everyone in the room. "They just keep crying, saying they want to be with their mothers, over and over again," she looked Naru in the face, addressing him to pay attention too. "I've never seen so many spirits in one house, and they're all innocent children." Masako decided then to officially pass out. I caught her as she fell backwards, supporting her limp body.

"She's fainted!" I said, getting the reply of "Oh no," from somebody.

The next few minutes were spent with Ayako, John, and I trying to help Masako, everyone trying to do something and I making sure we opened the window for her, at least, she needed air, now.

_There goes our psychic medium. She went down faster than I thought she would. I wonder, who next? John? Monk? Or Aayako? Maybe even Lin? Naru's more likely to stay away from the danger, so I doubt it'll be him. If it's anyone though, it's most likely to be me._

**_Later_**

**_Naru's P.O.V_**

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. May God bless your soul," John said over the girl as she laid in Noriko's bed. She wore a cross around her neck. "For the time being I've offered up a prayer. Your niece will be safe for the next couple of hours," the blonde exorcist told Noriko. _Seems like he the only one hear with a clear head on what his powers can or cannot do. _

"Thank you Father," Noriko bowed. The woman now just wanted her niece safe and sound. She'd make a good mother.

John nodded then turned to me. "Now then Kazuya I'd very much like to see this-" he was interrupted by the door opening. Monk stepped through the door.

"Naru, I can't find Minnie anywhere! It's like she just completely disappeared!" he shouted.

"I wondered when her disappearing act would show" I muttered, before reassuring monk "she'll show up eventually. Nothing can hide forever."

_Let's just hope we find her before we find a dead Ayumi._

**_Later_**

**_Mai's P.O.V_**

It was almost two am, and Minnie had yet to show up. All the boys plus myself were in base. Masako was still unwell and Ayako watched guard over Ayumi with Noriko. Yep, I was deemed no longer able to protect Ayumi properly as the ghost was obviously didn't care if Ayumi was being watched or not, so someone who could protect her from attacks better, in other words Ayako, took over. Or in simpler words, I'm no longer needed, so someone who was took over. I wondered when Minnie would show her doll face, but I didn't say anything.

We hadn't been able to find Minnie yet, after all.

The clock struck two and at that exact moment, the activity started.

"Something's going on with the audio" I said bluntly, not in the mood to whisper. I knew my throat would get payback later.

"Patch it in," he ordered. Lin got to work, and we could hear distinct moaning and crying, and some knocking sounds had been added in.

Now, we could hear it around us too. Seems they can't find Ayumi.

"Sounds like children," John inputted. "Dear God… There's so many of them." I could see where he was coming from with that. I had already heard Naru's research on the house, unlike John who hadn't, and how many died, but I was still shocked at how many kids have died in this house, and can't move on, so John must be more than a little shaken.

"Do you think they're looking for Ayumi?" I inquired.

"John's prayer is having some effect," Monk said, "Perhaps a kukkai barrier would help as well."

I cocked my head; hopefully he'd understand and explain.

"It's a special charm that's used to thwart any spirits from entering," Monk explained simply, screams echoing around us.

Then, it all stopped.

I looked at the monitors, did they find Ayumi already?

The door clicked open, revealing a frantic Ayako. "Naru I found Minnie, look!" she exclaimed, carrying a bundle in her arms_. I can't wait to get a hold of that doll, she'd wish she'd never become plastic…_

Naru took it and we gathered around. He pulled down the cloth and sure enough-there's Minnie. We all gasped. This damn doll…

"I noticed a bulge under the covers at the foot of Ayumi's bed and sure enough the doll had found its way in there," Ayako explained.

"Is Ayumi alright?" John questioned Ayako, breaking the partial silence. _If she wasn't, would Aayko be here?_

"She's fine," Ayako confirmed.

This was getting really, really bad. Considering we already dealt with a kitchen fire, an almost drowning, and a doll who apparently can do whatever it wants and not even get scathed when set to flames, that was saying a lot. Looks like Ayumi may become the next sitebound spirit around here…

**_Day 6_**

John was blessing Minnie, taking a crack at getting the spirit out of Minnie. We were in a storage room, we being Naru, Monk, John, and me, so that no one could interrupt. Mainly Noriko or Ayumi, however unintentional it may be_. I think the only reason I was allowed to come is because they know I won't talk, so they thought I wouldn't be of any use…_

Minnie lay on the table in front of us, a cross placed on the table near her head, as John recited from memory his prayers. He then placed his head on where her forehead was, supposedly, and revealed a cross when he moved his hand back. To me, it started to glow, and it felt hot like a fire.

Minnie's eyelids shot open.

Naru stood, unaffected as always, and Monk took a step back in surprise, but kept his composure. John, surprisingly, seemed that he had expected this to happen. Just what exactly did he do when he wasn't in a church? I leaned a small bit closer to monk, he knew how to defend himself, so he could protect me if need arise, and I just wanted to get away from that damn doll, it made my marks tingle.

John took out a vial, and unscrewed the cap. He put his thumb partially over the opening, and started making the figure of the cross with the water that splashed out, reciting his prayers again. _Holy water_ I realized, remembering that when he did an exorcism at the schoolhouse he had water like that before he almost got smashed with a falling ceiling.

Minnie started to shake, like the spirit inside her was fighting it. Actually, it was fighting it. And the cross was white-hot and seriously seemed like it should be burning the doll through by now, smoke should be everywhere. I don't remember this in the descriptions of exorcisms! _Then again, maybe the writer of the book didn't know as much as he thought he did..._

…and the Darkness comprehended it not." I heard John say as the screaming stopped. Minnie also stopped thrashing about. The doll was now just that, a doll. The cross was dimming now, and smoke now rose from around where it lay. It fell off, revealing a burn mark of the cross on the forehead of the doll.

"I believe the spirit has now been cleansed," John announced, "though that doesn't mean it has been destroyed." I faced the doll in wonder. After all that, the spirit could still be out there?! John started talking again and I faced him again. "I think it would be best for us to burn the doll so it can never be used for evil again." _You'd better. I hated that damn thing. And just try to sell it and explain the burn mark. Yeah, it once held an evil spirit and had to be exorcised. It won't happen again…. Probably. _You would get some interesting morons to watch though, there funny to watch...

_This time, Minnie burned easily, Monk, John, Naru, and I as witnesses._

**_Later_**

"I believe Minnie's true identity is the spirit that haunts this house," John said. It was just the guys in base again, discussing the case. "Do you think it could be one of the children who died here?" _what else could it be?_

"There's a good chance," Monk responded. "The spirits were probably lonely by themselves so they try to bring over children that inhabit the house and befriend them. Those children become sightbound spirits as well."

"Why is it just the children?" Naru questioned.

"Huh?" Monk didn't quite catch on.

"if they were lonely, why not choose Noriko or Mai, someone who could act as a substitute mother. (she may not act like it with her cursing, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she liked children) However for some reason Minnie was attempting to eliminate them. Why do that?"

The door opened and Mai walked in. She gently closed the door behind her before turning to the rest of the group.

"Mai, how's Miss Hara?" Naru asked her. Mai had said she was going to check on her a while ago, and was just now coming back.

"She's still not feeling too well," Mai sadly reported, her face showing that she was concerned.

"I see," he responded. The activity must be a bit much for Masako, with so many kids pleading for help constantly.

Naru sat down in one of the chairs. "Monk, I'd like you to try cleansing the house again," he said.

"You sure?" Monk replied curiously. Naru started typing onto the computer in front of him.

"The first to die was Yuki Tachibana. Here's her info and posthumous Buddhist name. she was of the Judo sect." he responded, moving the screen so Monk could see it.

"How'd you find that out? Those records are over seventy years old." Monk questioned.

"It was rather easy," Naru responded vaguely, then got up and walked over to Lin. "Let me see the records up till now," he requested.

_Boy, you really are sure of yourself, aren't you Naru? _thought Mai. _… you damn narcissist, you better know what you're doing! Because you're not the only one who knows how to kill and hide a body…_

**_Later_**

"I thought you said that ghosts can follow us, so will we really be safe in a hotel?" Noriko questioned Naru. After all, not even two hours ago he told her that she should head with Ayumi to a hotel. _If he said she could, I doubt she couldn't_

Naru held out a piece of paper with strange writing on it. Ayako had made it earlier. "This charm will protect you, just to be safe I'm sending Father Brown and Ms. Matsuzaki to stay with you," Naru assured her. Noriko took the charm firmly into her hands. _She better not drop it, it might break or something…_

"Thank you," she said. She just wanted this over with and done.

Ayumi turned to me. "Mai are you gonna come with us?" she asked.

"I can't, I'm sorry," I told her, and watched them pile into the car and drive away. Naru, Monk, and I stood in front of the door, and Masako, who was starting to either feel better or was getting used to the spirits, stood with us. _I hoped it was getting used to it, this probably won't be the worst thing she'll be called upon to help with._

"is it working, Miss Hara?" Naru questioned. The whole reason she was out here was to make sure it was working. If not, Monk had the keys to the van. _Which was a good backup plan, if you asked me._

Masako looked about, seemingly looking for any spirits rushing off after the car. "The spirits have yet to notice," she reported after a minute, "it appears as if the charm is working well."

"Alright, let's get back to work," Monk said, stretching tiredly. Time for another exorcism. _Lets see how this plays out…_

**_Later_**

Lin, Naru, and I were at base, and Monk sat in Ayumi's room, dressed in his Buddhist clothes again. _I wonder if they're comfortable. You know you're bored when you're thinking about Buddhist clothes._

"Monk, you ready?" Naru asked over the audio system.

"Ready as I'll ever be," was Monk's response. I heard him shift around before he started chanting again. I quickly droned him out. None of it really made sense to me.

_Nothing really big yet. Maybe this would be peaceful?_

_Probably not, wait a minute and we'll be screwed over against ghosts… again. It seems to be something they enjoy._

"The temperature around the bed is starting to drop considerably, it's already down two degrees in the last minute," Lin reported. Weird, it didn't seem dangpours there.

"And the audio?" Naru questioned. This ghosts _did_ have thing for loud noises, after all.

"Nothing to speak of at this point, although I'm not getting the usual static," Lin told him. We stood there quietly for a few more moment before Lin spoke up again. "I'm picking up something else now," he held his headphone closer to his ear, "Knocking sounds."

Then it started again. One of the screens was making my marks burn, it was the living room, I soon realized why.

"Naru, look!" I couldn't hold it in.

"What the…?" Naru saw it too. The lens in the living room was fogging up. "Lin, give me the temp in the living room," he ordered.

"It's currently at negative two degrees," Lin rattled back the info.

"It's dropping?" Naru grabbed the mic that was connected to the camera in Ayumi's room. "Monk we've got you in the wrong room. All the activity's coming from the living room," naru said hurriedly.

"What?!" Monk quickly rushed to the living room.

"Naru!" I yelled to turn his attention to the screens again. Now the monitor was filling with images of crying children, their faces stuck in strands of smoke, all of them crying again.

It looked pretty bad.

"Woah, what the?" Monk yelled when he got into the living room. "I've got multiple apparitions in here!" Monk yelled, waving his arms about to keep them at bay.

Monk straightened up and started chanting again. He was starting to seem a bit, well, pissed, really. _Can't blame him there._

The children started screaming louder, and I bit my lip, it was making my entire body scream in agony as well, but I wouldn't make a sound.

"…Tomiko…" I heard faintly over the audio. Something compelled me to look at the screen again. _What or what was that?_

There, behind Monk, was dark foggy figure. I was sure it said something a moment ago. It looked obviously dead, and female.

"Tomiko," I heard again, more clearly this time. Tomiko? The figure was starting to solidify into a woman. "My child," she pined. Naru obviously saw her too. He certainly wasn't expecting it either. The woman opened her eyes, which glowed against the dark fog she was surrounded by. "Tomiko," she said, her voice now extremely dark. _What the hell is she?_

I couldn't look away.

**Two chapters in one night! *high fiving myself* I thought Mai should still be good with kids, since it was one of the main things known about her in the actual series.**


	6. the doll house part 3

**Sorry I took so long. Here's my next chapter. I figure I'd add for the hell or it, whenever Mai panics with how her attitude is, she curses more. I figured out what I was doing on accident, and It fits her.**

**Flashback of the last chapter**

_"Tomiko," I heard again, more clearly this time. Tomiko? Who the hell is Tomiko? The figure was starting to solidify into a woman. "My child," she pined. _

_Naru obviously saw her too. He certainly wasn't expecting it either. The woman opened her eyes, which glowed against the dark fog she was surrounded by. "Tomiko," she said, her voice now extremely dark. What the hell is she?_

_I couldn't look away._

**_Present time/ Mai's P.O.V_**

I give up. That's it, I'm done. What the hell have I gotten into!? Is it always this screwy in his business? If so, give me my resignation forms. I don't want this job; I deal with enough bad shit already. Why did I have to agree to take this stupid job!? If you can't tell, I'm panicking, and I think I'm doing a good job at hiding it.

Monk never stopped his chants, and I'm not sure he could see her/it/whatever she is.

"Behind you, Monk!" Naru yelled into the radio, he actually looked scared. I almost wish I had a camera to blackmail him, but nows not the time.

Monk looks around behind himself for a few moments before yelling back "hey! There's nothing here!"

I raise an eyebrow, is he blind or can he just not see it? It'd be best that I find out before he gets himself killed. They might try a strip search, and it would be hard to explain why there were strange, _GLOWING_, symbols on my entire body. If it wasn't for the glowing part, they might pass off as tattoos, but cops aren't that dumb. Then again…. Maybe I should be more worried about Monk and his possible murder, then what the cops may or may not do if they were forced to do a strip search… time to bet by stupid head back in the damned game.

Naru makes and interested noise from the back of his throat (why am I not surprised that in a time like this, he's more interested in spirits then the health of the team he works with?) and mutters "so you can't see it, huh?" _no shit!? If he could, he'd be running for the hills!_

I run to the door, I mgith as well try to help. Naru yells after me (probably didn't want to pay for yet _another_ assistant's hospital bill) but I continue running.

I ran to the door, and sighed, before throwing it open with all the force I contained. Monk looked up, and his face when from confusion and contorted to fear and anger.

"You Fool! Stay back!" he yells at me, but I just looked around the room, the women had disappeared.

I hiss aloud, in anger and awe "the hell? She was here a minute ago on the camera, and now she's gone!? I repeat, what the hell!?"

"Don't stand there babbling, get out!" Monk snaps

"Only if you go too" I argue insistently "we both need to get the hell out of dodge." _Even a brave idiot wouldn't want to hang around here now._

One of the spirits flows through my body, and I hear it hiss "no one shall interfere"

_'Too late' _I replied daringly in my mind_ 'S.P.R will crack this case. If not, I'll crack my asshole of a bosses head open myself.'_

Hands grasp my throat and close in on my windpipe. I hiss in slight pain, and feel the familiar panicking feeling one gets when strangled_._ My scars burn and cut, a silent message from the devil to the spirit. _Lay off, she's mine._

"Mai!" Monk yells he begins his chant and the hands disappear (probably freaked by the fact the devil just hissed at it as well as a Monk) and I start coughing slightly. My throat burns from a mixture of pain and from yelling, I really overdid my vocal chords today…

Monk grabs my arm (I'm thankful he doesn't try to pull down my jacket neck and see my neck mark) and asks politely as he could be in our given situation "are you okay?"

"Yes" I replied between coughs "I'm just damned peachy!" that might have been rude, but I'm too hurt and confused to care.

He says nothing in reply, and glances at the door, as if deciding something, before saying "were getting out of here." _Bout time, now had he listened to me sooner... Aww, never mind, it's not getting me anywhere by thinking about this_.

He helps me out of the room, while my hand was on my throat. My neck mark was noticeable, so I had to cover it. I could feel it pulse under my hand, much like a heartbeat.

We almost made it too the door (when will these guys give us a break?) when I loud snapping sound started up. Wood breaking, floorboards snapping under an invisible weight. We both turned (almost knocking each other over in the process) to see a large, gaping hole in the floor. A well.

**_Later_**

"The remains of a well that had been buried" Monk explained, while we looked around for anything strange _(well, there's nothing there besides a damned WELL!)_ "It's pretty old." _Not shit Sherlock._

"There is a spirit of a woman that lives here" Masako stated, and I kept my eye roll in check. _No shit!? I thought that was a blob, not a woman who attacked Monk earlier! I'm so shocked. God, I thought you were brighter than this? Man I was way off. _ "lurking deep inside, calling the spirits of children, pretending to be there mother. The children want to return home, but they are lost, and cannot get out."

I cocked my head in silent question, so that's were Minnie came from? Man, no wonder she's so sad, can't blame her.

"Minnie- Tachibana Yukiko- is the leader of the children" Masako answered somberly "but the truth is, she is anguished and sad, and says she can't stand this any longer."

I couldn't help but wonder, as I stared at the well along with everyone else, who all had been dragged down there. How many kids were stuck down there? How many are stuck down there? I shook my head mentally_; stop caring Mai, there dead, so what. Get over it. That'll be you soon enough_.

"It looks to me like this well continues to the bowls of the earth" Masako commented, sounding serious "the children's spirits have settled all the way down to the bottom_." I doubt it's that deep, but it looks like it might be halfway there._

"Who is this "Tomiko?"Naru asked. _I'm more interested in the fact it took them this long to ask, you'd think they'd want to know who the ghost was moaning about, guess they are pretty dumb._

"The woman's child" Masako answered immediately, like a well trained dog "the woman is looking for her child, for her own daughter. That is why she is gathering all the children." Seriously? This lady seriously needs to get and afterlife! Wouldn't you get sick of killing kids after a while?

"So that is what's going on" Naru murmured, sounding slightly interested.

He turns around and starts heading towards the door. "Naru?" I called softly, wondering where he was going, but I knew he wouldn't tell me.

"I'm stepping out." Naru deadpanned, he sounded like he wasn't even aware that we were in the room. He was too busy getting whatever work he wanted to do done. "Take care of things."

I nodded, even though I know he couldn't see me. I said nothing but instead glanced at the others. Naru worked in his ways, the others just worked in better ways. If they had intellects, they would be the best ghost chasers ever, but there not, so Naru's helping them.

"He's his have-it-his-own-way as always" Monk commented "should we drive out the spirits until he gets back? _Nah, let's let them kill us all off while we sit and wait around. What else could we do?_

I nodded and pointed at Ayako, silently stating that it was her turn. She argued a few moments but finally agreed.

**_Later_**

While Ayako did her chants (noruto, was it?) I could help but think "I'm scared, stay with me" and she calls herself a spiritualist? This is just too pathetic. Wonder if she'd faint if she met the devil

I shiver, it's getting colder, and I actually feel a small shiver. I wrap my arms around my marks, slightly happy for the heat they give off.

The wind flowed eerily, and Ayako jumped up, gasping loudly

"someone just touched me!' she yelped. _Seriously, you're a priestess!? You should be used to this type of shit by now! Of is this your first haunting!? Pathetic._

I rolled my eyes, and replied "keep it together! You're the priestess right? Or are you just a pathetic whiner?"

Something grabbed my ankle, and I jumped slightly. It made my ankle mark cut into my body, I could feel the coldness radiating from the hand, and it hurt.

"M-mai?" Ayako asked uncertainly

"My foot" I muttered, before the wind was whipped out from under me and I was flying towards the well.

"HELP!" I yelped, trying to grab the smooth wood floor "I can't stop!"

"Mai!" Ayako yelled again as Lin burst through the door, undoubtedly having seen what was happening from base.

"Taniyama!" he yelled and ran to try to catch up.

If it wasn't for the fact I was flying into the well, I would have though deeper into the fact that the man who hated me was trying to save my life. I hate to admit this… but I'm slightly… claustrophobic. I usually don't fear much, but when it's dark and compressed I feel weak and vulnerable, and I hate that feeling. So I just wanted to get as far away as possible from that damned well. I'll think about it deeper later… If I'm still alive then that is.

"QUICK, grab my hand!" he yelled, extending his arm as far as possible to try to grab mine.

I reached foreword, trying to grasp it in mine. It was so damned close to!

With a shriek, the hand tugged even more forcefully than before, pulling me out of Lin's reach. I hate this damned place…

"MAI!" I heard Ayako shriek before it all went blank.

**_Dream world_**

I could hear a drop of water splash on what I guessed was more water. I'm guessing that it was a noise from the splash I made when I hit the bottom of the well.

I could hear birds chirping a song of some sort, I wonder what. I've always loved birds; they're free to fly wherever they wanted. I will admit I'm envious of them.

It felt warm, and I opened my eyes to see myself staring at the ceiling of an old Japanese house. Maybe a feudal era house, it looked old enough. Guess I'm in another dream, I can't feel my marks, and I lifted my hands to see something strange. My gloves were gone, and now that I look at my arms, so my jackets. I gulp quietly; I hope they didn't take them off when I landed into the bottom of the well.

As I blinked away the fuzziness, I look at my arms and hands to see that there no marks. I wish my body could look like this in real life. I almost look pretty without them. The whole room was pretty big, but something was off, I guess it was the lack of color. It seemed so… dull.

Where am I? I wonder as I slowly sit up. I looked around more. The birds kept chirping throughout the whole scene, making it seem like a recurring memory that happens over and over again. I found that when I looked at myself, I was more brightly colored than the rest of the scene. Weird… maybe I've turned into a spirit form of some sort?

A light thumping noise made me look outside a door and into the yard. Out in the yard a small girl in a kimono was playing with a ball, it looked kind of like masako's only a different color. She was turned away from me, so I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she was only 9, maybe 8 or 7. Hard to tell.

_That can't possibly be Ayumi . _The girl's hair was short and styled like Masako's, while Ayumi's hair is long and so far Ayumi hasn't worn a kimono like this girl was. _Who the hell is that?_

Then, a man came up to her. I couldn't see his face, it was shadowed. But he obviously was talking to the little girl. _Get the hell away from him! Run away! Scream! Baka!_

The girl was being lead off by the man, carrying her ball under her arm. _This kid is going to get her ass killed… and I can't do a damned thing about it… I hate Satan, the ass…._

Tomiko!" I heard a woman's voice yell as a shadow appeared in front of me, and I felt a few tears that weren't mine fell onto my check and disappear. The scene changed, and I could see a woman in a kimono running off, searching in the now dark scenery. The serenity from before was gone. "Tomiko, Tomiko!" she yelled more.

_Is that the girl's mother? Hate to be cruel, but your daughter is long gone and quite possibly dead._

"Tomiko!" she yelled again before stopping suddenly. In front of her there was a pond, I think it was the one in Noriko's backyard. On its surface, the ball that had belonged to the girl floated, looking almost innocent, but the darker meaning was obvious from my point of view. When the mother saw it, she gripped her head and screamed. "NO!"

I looked away; the little girl was gone now, forever. It wasn't right to watch someone mourn. It wasn't nice to intrude. Even from my point of view. I looked to the side to see the scenery change yet again. The woman from before stood, gripping the edges of a well. She was crying, and I heard as her tears hit the water. It was the distinct sound I heard before I started this dream, and here I thought it was my body…

As I watched her stare at her reflection at the bottom of the well, I knew full well what she was about to do. I didn't do anything to stop it. As far as I'm concerned, if someone wants to die by suicide, may they have warmth and safety after death. It's not my concern. I looked away, that didn't mean I wanted to watch though…

Someone grabbed my arm, and I looked over to see the Naru-confuse-my-pathetic-ass-to-death-look-alike. _Why the hell are you here? Is there something important here? Or are you just a damned stalker?_

"Tomiko…" the woman's voice whispered. I looked back to see her throw herself down the well. _May the spirits watch over you_ I prayed softly _sorry god, I have to ask that you help her. I know that with my impurities I have no right to even think of praying, and that's why I never go to church, but this ain't about me, it's about her. If you do exist like the devil does, embrace her for me will ya? I'm not going to talk to you for a while, and I'm sure you won't miss my thoughts. They're hollow and pitch black. Take the better of us where they belong, alright?_

Next thing I knew, it was blank again.

**_Awareness, and a few minutes after the fall_**

This time when I opened my eyes, I'm pretty sure I was in the right time period. I was at the bottom of the well (no big shocker there), laying on the boards that had previously fallen down. _How long have I been down here?_

"Mai," I heard from the top of the well, "are you hurt?"

"Ayako" I answered her and sat up, before I mutter "I just fell down a damned well, but otherwise I'm just peachy!"

Ayako didn't answer that last statement."Oh thank goodness you're okay, Mai!" she sighed. "Just sit tight, Lin's coming right down to help you," she said as Lin, almost on cue, appeared with a rope.

"Bout damned time. Although I'm shocked, the man who hates me is saving me?" if I wasn't still out of it, I would have made a snarkier comment. Lin came down on the rope.

Soon enough, I was out of the well and in base. Ayako checked me over while Lin watched the both of us. We were the only ones at base. Ayako had just finished checking my head as I started to tell them my dream. It seemed important enough to mention.

"Really, a kidnapping?" Ayako asked as she was about to put a bandage over my knee.

"That's right," I answered shakily, "at least I think so. It was a vision, or maybe a concussion. Are you sure my head alright? I just want to make sure I haven't gone loony and that's the answer. A man just strolls up to the girl and then walks away with her, so that's why her mother threw herself down into the well."

"Hmp," Ayako replied. "You have no experience as a medium so how could your dream possible hold any weight?" she said, putting the bandage over my scrapped knee. "There," she said as she hit my knee to put the adhesive in place.

"Nice to know I'm so easily un-believed" I muttered.

"Surprisingly enough, I think she may have hit the nail on the head," Lin interjected.

"Man" I muttered, hardly believing it "I must have really rattled my brain."

"I wouldn't go that far, but it is a possibility," he continued. _Nope my brains alright._

"Although" Ayako interjected "that weird dream of yours did make one good thing come out of all of this."

"And what was that?' I asked incredulously. Had she heard nothing I'd rattled on about? I've been talking about kidnapping and suicide and there was something good?

She gave me the closest to a kind smile she could "I've never seen you talk about something so openly without a fight just underneath the surface. And this has to be the most I've ever heard you talk either."

I turn around and flop onto the couch, before deadpanning "I'm going to sleep now."

I could feel Ayako give me a sad glance, like she'd expected me to talk longer, before going off and doing something, I was already asleep to tell.

**_Dream world_**

I woke up, again, to a world filled with those floating orbs and there in front of me was the Naru look-alike, once again.

"Hey… asshole" I started, trying to sound as uncaring as possible "is the kid going to be alright?" I wasn't about to show worry over Ayumi.

"She'll be fine," he said softly.

"Good. I don't want to be stuck with being questioned by the cops." I answered, never once bothering to gauge his reaction, I doubt he could hurt me here, and he'd be doing a couple of people a favor if he did so.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Naru?" I heard faintly. Was that Monk?

I sat up, wide awake. Sure enough, Naru was taking his jacket off. _Bout damn time you got back! I was starting to think we were all dead!_

"Lin, play back everything you've recorded thus far," Naru said, leaning over Lin's chair a bit to look at his computer.

"Right," was Lin's simple reply as he started typing into the computer, I guess to pull up the video files? I was never good at computers.

I walked over and nodded, my form of a greeting. Like I've said before, greeting aren't my style, goodbyes, however, are my specialty.

Then I noticed something. "What are…" I muttered

"Hey," Monk waved. Next to him was Masako and Ayako, and next to Masako was John.

"Aren't you all supposed to be watching over Ayumi?" I demanded "or did she die while I was out cold?"

"Naru said there's no use guarding her anymore," Monk replied lightly.

"So we came to help!" John added in.

I gave Naru a questioning look.

"She's fine," Naru said confidently. "Everything will be over tonight."_Bout damn time you figured something out!_

Everyone stood in shock for a moment before Naru had us up in gear again. We formed a semi-circle around Naru as he gave us orders, naturally. He seems like the leader type.

"Ms. Hara, can you see what the spirits are doing?" Naru asked.

Masako concentrated for a moment before replying. "They're in the living room. There's no indication that they've gone to the hotel yet," she reported.

"Matsuzaki, start making charms that will stop any spirits from passing," Naru held out papers for Ayako. "I want the rest of you to post them throughout the house. We're going to raise a kukkai in here."

"Care to fill us in on the plan?" Monk asked. _Are you that dumb? I doubt he'd do that._

"I'm planning on returning Tomiko back to her mother," Naru said simply. _The hell!?_

I gave him a pointed look. He does realize Tomiko is long dead right?

"Tomiko cannot be returned physically. Her mother will continue to haunt this place until we can at least create the illusion of her return, so we'll need a substitute" _way to be cryptic._

"You better not mean Ayumi" I growled "I may not be the smartest of people, but I think I could figure out how to make you pay if you even think about it" _damn, I sound like I care._

Naru gave an answer a few moments later. "The problem lies with the woman. If we leave here without removing her we'll have failed," he said with his head lowered and eyes closed. _You just can't think of failure as an option can you?_

"Yes but this woman is dangerous," Ayako interjected. "She nearly killed Mai an hour ago when she pulled her into the well. I think at some point we need to start considering our own safety." _If she wanted me dead I would be long dead…_

"What about Ayumi?" I asked her. Ayako didn't give an answer. John wouldn't look at me. I turned over to Masako and Monk on my other side. They both seem to be thinking. My anger rose "you all are pathetic" I hissed "if you leave now, Ayumi's death will be your murder. I won't leave even if you do. I'd rather lose my life helping a little girl who's going through all of this then be a coward like all of you."

"I must say I'm disappointed in all of you, I expected much more," Naru's condescending tone cut through the tense silence. "If you can't even think objectively, then I don't need you."

_Nice one Naru, and I thought I could be cruel…_

"The risks are high!" Monk butted in. "If we screw this up our spirits could be trapped here as well!" Naru finally raised his head and opened his eyes to look Monk in the eye as Monk glared at him.

"Your point?" I whispered softly "you could die in the next two minutes on the way to the van. Who cares when you die, as long as you die the way you want too." _That's the point of the devil's bet… to die the way I want too…_

After a moment Naru blinked while turning and walked forward. "Whether or not you want to participate is entirely up to you," he said as he headed for the door. "Mai, you're free to leave as well."

"I just told you I wasn't" I answered irritably as he walked out the door with Lin following, not even glancing back.

"Oh, you poor thing Mai," Ayako said, "he's quite a handful, huh?"

"Better than a bunch of cowards" I snapped

"If Naru is prepared to go that far then there's at least a chance of success," Masako stated. _How the hell does she know that?_

"I trust your judgment Masako, and if you think we should then let's do it," Monk chipped in.

_So if Naru says it's okay, you disagree, but if Masako, the self proclaimed "TV medium" says it aloud, you go along with it?_

"You sure?" I asked, _last chance to back out while you can. Cowards._

"Well at this point it's the only option we have," Monk replied. _So basically, you're backed into a corner?_

"I agree, I think it's a good plan," John said. _Why couldn't you have piped up earlier?_

Ayako sighed loudly. "If you all end up dead I'll see to your funerals," was her reply.

"I don't want a funeral" I replied "I want to be turned to ash and spread under a tree."

"what are all these damned charms for?" I asked Ayako. Somehow, we had all ended up in the hallway at the bottom of the staircase, near the front door.

Ayako turned and said, "Its simple-"

"To keep spirits from leaving the house," Naru interrupted from behind us. He was on the staircase, at the end of the landing.

I nodded to him.

"Be aware that we'll be leaving the demongate open to distribute the spirits," Naru informed us before walking down the staircase.

"Oh, just get off it," Ayako stated. "Why does he always act like a big shot?"

Me and Monk ended up answering at the same time, "Because he's Naru!" _ain't that obvious?_

Ayako simply huffed, her posture and face clearly saying 'Good point'.

"Demon gate?" I asked Monk softly. If they're demons around, that means Satan's nearby too.

"No, _demongate_," Monk stressed the word. "The northeast quarter. It's the easiest direction for spirits to pass through." _Ah, that's a lot less terrifying. I'm rolling my eyes if you can't tell._

"Monk and Matsuzaki, guard the demongate," Naru ordered when he got down to us. "When the spirits exit, scatter them as best you can." _He sounds like a military general and were the newbies taking orders._

"So we'll be reducing the number of spirits temporarily to draw the woman out?" Monk asked.

Naru ignored him, probably deeming it obvious, and turned to John. "John, I want you to cover the living room and do the same."

"Piece of cake," John said cheerily. How is he able to keep up the cheerful thing up with all that's going on?

"Wait; hold on a second, then who's going to conduct the exorcism?" Monk asked.

Monk and Ayako, ended up with the same conclusion at the same time. "You don't mean-!" they questioned him.

Naru simply smirked.

**_Moments later_**

That night you could find Masako and myself in the living room, sitting on the floor behind John in his exorcist robes. Naru leaned on the door calmly. Masako held onto my arm timidly for support as the well innocently seemed inactive. _Then again, I can't see like I can see ghosts anyway._

John grabbed his cross before pulling his holy water out. He started to splash it around as he began his prayers. It had begun. _I wonder how it'll end._

Masako gripped my arm more tightly as he spoke "what's wrong with you?" I asked

"Cleansings are addressed to the spirit directly to help them with issues they've had in their past lives," Masako explained. "Only a medium can be successful at it." She turned to look at Naru, who was stared at the well, either oblivious to our conversation or ignoring it. "Naru is no medium, so he plans to perform an exorcism."

"Is there a difference?" I asked. _I'm not a professional for a reason._

Masako turned back to me. "In a cleansing you try to persuade the spirits to change their ways. In an exorcism the goal is to destroy or kill the spirit outright," she explained.

"Seems Naru has a morbid side" I muttered in reply. _What is wrong with my boss!?_

"I wish he wouldn't exorcise her, at least, not in my presence," Masako said, eyes downcast.

_Ghosts and humans are the same to Masako's eyes. To her, this must be like a mass murder…_

I literally got jerked out of my thoughts by something grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward a good bit. John looked back to check, and even Naru looked my way.

"You okay?" Masako asked, arms stretched out to help me if needed. I straightened back up.

I nodded. _What is it with ghosts and me today? For the devil's sake, I'm claimed! You try to explain to Satan that you murdered me! I'd love to see his reaction._

Mist started to form on the floor, and it was getting colder by the second. You could hear voices within the well. John quickly got back to his prayers, now holding his bible.

Apparently, the ghosts didn't like that. White ribbons seemed to appear out of the well.

"Ms. Hara, how about now?" Naru ordered.

"They're attempting to escape," Masako reported, her eyes darting this way and that, "Their numbers are beginning to drop rapidly. They're trying to get out of the living room, and they're crying!"

I said nothing; I had nothing to say after all.

Suddenly, she gasped, and looked at the well in slight fright, clasping her hands over her mouth. _What the hell's wrong with her?_

"Hey, what is it?" I asked before looking at the well myself.

"She's coming out!" Masako answered, her voice terrified. John gasped at her statement. I could feel that something was about to happen. Naru didn't gasp like John did, but he did look ready for action.

We waited in anticipation. Masako was clutching my arm again, and was slightly shrunk behind me_._ _Well, I guess like the old saying goes 'I don't to be faster than death, I just need to be faster than you at getting away from death'. Guess she's hoping she'll have a head start at getting away…_

A drop came out of the well as if the well was upside down and we were at the bottom. A very familiar sound of water dropping rang through the otherwise still room. The woman's tear… she was here.

A shadowy figure came out of the well, much like the one that appeared on camera during Monk's exorcism. This time, though, we could all see it clearly. _Wonder why we couldn't earlier…._

"Tomiko," the woman's voice rang clear. It was dark, and full of malice. She only halfway lifted her head towards us, as though she knew we were only human, like we didn't matter. "Tomiko," she said eerily. _She's a little too focused on her daughter for her own good, wouldn't she have wanted her to have lived a happy live and not amount to this._

Her eyes showed no humanity.

"Tomiko is not here!" Masako pleaded bravely. "These children do not belong to you! Please set them free! Can't you see the pain they're suffering? They just want to return to their real mothers! Let them go!" Masako gasped again. The woman had ignored her, mostly, but she did send out a bunch of creepy arms out of the well. _Looks like she's making it worse._

They crawled out at first, and then went straight towards us. John stood in front of us, holy water in hand. He ended up getting pushed across the room; I quickly went over to help him up. _Someone had to make sure he didn't break his spine or something…_

I could see the woman's eyes shift over to the last remaining member of the room, Naru. He simply stood there, staring her down, arms crossed. He straightened up and started walking right towards her. _Is he insane?_

"Naru! Just give me another minute! Please! Don't!" Masako pleaded. _What happened to her love to help Naru? Choose a side already!_

He ignored her, stopping right in front of the spirit. "Your child is right here, look," Naru held up a wooden figure doll. _What the hell is that?_ "Take the children you gathered with you, and leave this place!" he yelled before throwing the doll in the air.

The woman kept her gaze on the doll as it went up, and suddenly, I could see a bright golden light right where the doll was. The light turned into a vision of a little girl. _It's the girl from my dream! I wondered if it was her._

The little girl held her arms open to hug her mother, and the woman held her arms open in anticipation. When the two touched, the woman went from having a dark presence around her, to glowing in the same glowing light as she embraced her child. _I feel warm… is this what heaven feels like? Wish I could go one day…_

"Look Mai, right there," Masako spoke with a dreamy sound in her voice. I knew what she meant. The children from before, who all had been in pain, went from having the same dark glow as the woman had before, to glowing with the same light that now enveloped the whole room, and they were laughing. Then, with one final glow, they all disappeared. _It was all good stuff, I can't help but wonder if I'll grow cold when I reach hell, instead of on fire like they say in the bible…_

"They're all gone now, they've been cleansed," Masako announced officially, making John smile.

I then turned my attention to Naru, who simply stood at the same place he was when he threw the doll, not even turning towards us. Typical. But he seemed calmer, happier. I suppose that's a good thing…

**_And with that, another case was solved._**

**_Day 7_**

"You have no idea how grateful I am for your help," Noriko said as she and Ayumi stood side by side in the house. We had called them back, and now we were getting ready to pack up and go. "I just heard from my brother, and he said he'll be returning as soon as he can."

I nodded, that's good. Then again, I don't think I've ever met him through this entire thing. Oh well…

"Are you sure it's safe?" Noriko asked Naru. "I mean, you're sure you got rid of all the ghosts in the house?" _I don't think he'd say it was safe if he wasn't sure…_

"There's no need to worry," Naru said plainly. _That's good, I don't want to be up all night long worrying…_

Just in case, we observed for the rest of the night after the cleansing and all morning after for activity. Naru gave the all-clear around noon, and Noriko and Ayumi came back.

Soon enough, we were outside, and Monk was helping put away equipment. "Last one," he said as he slid a monitor in place, "We're set to go!" He closed the back of the van and turned towards the rest of us. John and Masako had already left, leaving Ayako, Monk, Naru, Lin, and myself still in the driveway.

"Naru, what was that little thing you gave the ghost?" I asked curiously. I'll forget about it if I don't ask now.

"It was a hitogata," Naru answered.

I tilted my head in question. What the hell's a hitogata?

It was Monk that answered this one. "It's the original form of the straw ethigy dolls. It's made by carving a piece of paulownia wood into the shape of the person you want to put a spell on," he explained.

"You dummy, that's how you put a curse on someone," Ayako smirked.

"Spell-casting has both a light and a dark side," said Naru. "A light spell helps the person, while a dark harms them. Often the casting has a combination of light and dark sides."

"That's right," Monk nodded, "It's just like in esoteric Buddhism, where either approach can be used to confound a sworn enemy." _Um… I'm not sure how that effects my question or answer, but thank you for the info!_

"The hitogata is simply a vessel used to contain a spirit," Naru continued. "For example, let's say I patterned an ethigy doll after Mai." _Hey, why the hell is it always me? _"If I were to damage the hitogata, Mai would be harmed as well. That's how close the ethigy is to the real person."

"So that one was…" I questioned.

"Made for Tomiko," Naru replied.

I nodded soundlessly, I got the gist of it now…

"I gotta say, I'm impressed you made a successful hitogata that quickly. Is that why you left earlier?" asked Monk.

"The date of Tomiko's birth and death were necessary for the ethigy to be effective," Naru answered. "The woman was Oshima Hiro, and Tomiko was her only child," he continued "The girl had disappeared one day and her body surfaced from the pond about six months later. A couple of years after that, Oshima's house was demolished. The house before us now was built in its place." _Well, doesn't that story sound familiar? Take that Ayako!_

"Tomiko," Lin stated. "Do we know if she was kidnapped?" _why the hell are you bringing that thing up! _"Is that why the mother threw herself down the well?"

"There was no mention of a kidnapping," Naru stated. He turned to look at the house behind me. "The important thing is this house is free of spirits."

_I wonder… were you planning on a cleansing from the very beginning Naru? Probably, you seem smart enough. Now, if only your ego was smaller…._

Turns out I got stuck in the back of the van with Ayako and Monk, the old arguing couple.

"I never would've pegged him as an omiyouji," Monk said is slight admiration.

I tilted my head, what's that?

"Fashioning a hitogata after Tomiko and cleansing the mother is pretty complicated," Monk explained. "Only a pro could pull that off." _Really? I'm pretty sure he just tossed the hitogata to her and she got cleanse…_

"It's amazing, isn't it? With how young Naru is," Ayako commented.

"Amazing?"

"Well, it's definitely cool."

"Hmp." _Get your ego down!_

"Hey Mai," I turned to find Ayumi standing there.

"What's up Ayumi?" I greeted

"So do you think…" Ayumi looked a little shy "we'll see each other again?"

"Tell ya what" I answered, crouching down to her level "if you ever need me, I'm just a call away. I wouldn't mind coming back over."

"Ah, you promise?" Ayumi happily asked as she held her pinky out to me.

"Promise," I answered, taking her pinky in mine.

**_At the end of the day, I'm just happy Ayumi is safe. Damn, I can't believe I actually just wrote that! Oh well, let's see what crazy shit naru's got in store for me yet…._**

**Read and review! I hope people are actually reading this, I can't tell, no one comments!**


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